Tales of Neptunia ReBirth
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: Things happen for a reason. Even that which seem completely crazy have a greater purpose. So when two heroes from a different dimension come falling out of the sky with a broken moon, alongside a pudding-hungry Goddess you can only blame a Mad God for something this crazy. This is a remake of Tales of Neptunia because the story, by my own fault, got too crazy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

 **Hello all, I have returned with a new story, kind of. As I am sure a few of you remember, Tales of Neptunia got kind of... messy, towards the end. So rather than try and sort the pieces of that mess into something somewhat legible I have elected to just start from scratch with a slightly tighter noose on what is going to be in it. So as before it is mostly Tales of Xillia crossed with Hyperdimension Neptunia with a few other little bits thrown in, but it will not be as insane as before. Main character is Jude, harem, you know the drill, on we go!**

* * *

Two figures were in the air, falling from high above the clouds, and falling fast.

The first, a young man with brown hair, wearing blue and grey clothing with large, ornate, purple gauntlets, the second a beautiful young woman with long, blonde and auburn, wavy hair, red eyes, and a revealing outfit holding a spiked golden sword.

The young man looked around franticly as they fell. "Wh – What the…?! Milla, what's going on!?"

The young woman, Milla, looked around calmly in thought. "Hhmm… I believe we are falling out of the sky, Jude."

Jude sighed in exasperation. "Yeah, I know _that_ , but –!" his words trailed off as he glanced to the side and saw a young woman with long, lilac hair, a white hoodie that was slightly unzipped, showing her moderate bust, was also falling from the sky, completely unconscious. "Milla, look!"

Milla blinked in thought. "Huh, falling from the sky must be a common thing here."

"Come on, get me close to her!"

Milla nodded and flicked her wrist, causing a gust of wind to blow him towards the girl.

As Jude approached her he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"I'll try and cushion our landing," Milla explained as she put an arm out forward, "hang on tight."

Jude nodded as he tightened his hold on the girl before they hit the ground.

* * *

Jude groaned as he slowly woke up, and then realized he was not outside, but inside of a very, very pink room. "What the…?"

His attention was then drawn to a young woman nearby who had long, congo-pink hair, and big, bright, matching eyes, wearing a plain jumper and a simple skirt with long socks. She leaned in close to him, her bust swaying slightly, causing his face to turn bright red with embarrassment.

"U – U – Uh…" he sputtered.

The woman smiled warmly. "Ah, you're awake! Great! Does anything hurt? Are you feeling well?"

Jude gulped lightly. "N – Not sure… C – Can hardly breathe actually…" He then looked down and realized his body was wrapped tightly in full-body bandages. "Wh – What the…? Wh - Why am I naked?!"

"Well, I had to put the bandages on you." Her face turned red with mild abashment. "I've never seen one before…"

Jude's face turned a deeper red.

"Mind explaining?" Milla asked, standing directly behind the pink-haired woman.

"Eek!" the girl shrieked as she turned around in surprise with a jump.

"C – Cute…" Jude muttered as her jump caused her chest to bounce slightly.

"Y – You're awake too, huh?" she asked Milla, surprised.

Milla nodded. "Yes. I have been for quite some time. Who are you?"

The girl nodded with a smile. "Ah, right. My name's Compa. Nice to meet you. How about the other girl?"

Jude frowned in thought. "Huh? Other girl?"

"The girl you saved by using your body as a cushion," Milla explained.

Jude furrowed his brow in thought before gaping slightly. "Wait… we actually survived that fall?"

Compa nodded energetically. "Yeah. You guys fell out of the sky like WHOOSH and then hit the ground like POW! Then I found you and bandaged you all up."

The lilac-haired girl groaned as she sat up, waking slowly. "Ugh… so loud…"

Turning to her, Compa asked, "You okay?"

Nodding, the lilac-haired girl answered, "Yeah, but I'm rreeaallllyy hungry."

"Okay!" Compa answered with a smile. "I'll go ahead and make you something then!"

Jude furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait, if we fell outside, how'd you get us all here? Wasn't it hard?"

Compa shook her head. "No, not really. I go to a nursing school, so moving bodies is something I do a lot."

"Nursing school?" Milla asked.

Compa nodded with a smile. "Yup. Oh, I still don't know who you people are."

"Ah," Jude muttered. "I'm Jude Mathis."

"My name is Milla Maxwell," Milla explained.

The lilac-haired girl suddenly sprang up and exclaimed energetically, "I'm Neptune!"

Compa blinked in thought. "Nepta… Nepku… Nepin… Nept-… Nepuu-… Nepel… Neput-…"

…

…

…

"Nep-Nep!" Compa suddenly shouted with cute frustration.

' _C – Cute…_ ' Jude muttered in his head.

Milla folded her arms incredulously. "Is it really that hard to say? Nept… Nep… Nyeput… damn. It really is hard to say. My apologies."

Jude laughed weakly.

Neptune waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Call me whatever you want. Neptune, Nep-Nep, Nepper, Neptuna. Whatever!"

Milla blinked before humming happily as she rubbed her abdomen. "Mmm… Neptuna. Wonder how that tastes compared to regular tuna."

Neptune joined Milla in her daydreaming. "Mmm… yeah…"

Jude chuckled weakly as he stood from the bed.

Compa then turned to Neptune. "Hey, Nep-Nep, you're bruised still, let me take a look."

"Huh? Okay," Neptune answered plainly.

Nodding, Compa added, "Right. Let's get those clothes off you first."

Jude blushed, stumbled, and sputtered at that. "H – Huh?!"

Neptune blinked in confusion. "Huh?! Why?! Why do I need to go nude?! I don't need to power up!"

Compa frowned obstinately. "I can't bandage you up when you're clothed!"

Jude frowned incredulously. ' _Be nude to power up? What kind of logic is that?!_ '

Milla folded her arms in deliberation. "I see. One becomes stronger when they wear no clothes. I will need to remember that."

Jude gulped in worry.

"Come on!" Compa insisted, grabbing Neptune's clothing and pulling it off in one swipe.

Jude immediately covered his eyes. "Compa! Don't just suddenly rip off a patient's clothing! Didn't they teach you that at med school?!"

Compa stiffened slightly. "H – Huh?"

Jude, his eyes still covered, elucidated, "Ripping off a patient's clothing is a big no if they are conscious!"

"But I can't bandage her up if she's clothed," Compa argued as she began putting the bandages on Neptune, looping and wrapping her all over. "Here comes the wrap! This way… that way… loop it over…" The end result of Compa's efforts had Neptune wrapped in bandages in a very suspect manner.

"I see," Milla noted in consideration. "So that's how to wrap bandages correctly."

Jude, his eyes now uncovered and his mouth agape, argued, "No it isn't! You're going to suffocate her that way!"

"Nrgh…" Neptune grunted, "loosen it… can't… breathe…!"

Jude immediately rushed over to Neptune and started pulling on the bandages, trying to pull them off her. "What'd you use to bind it? Super glue?!"

Compa pouted. "I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't come off…"

Jude gaped in disbelief. "… Milla!"

Milla flicked a hand, causing blades of wind to slice at the bandages.

Jude then tugged, pulling the bandages off. "Good…" However, Jude then gaped when he saw Neptune, completely nude with a confused and demure expression in front of him, causing him to blush and then gulp. "C – Cute…"

"C – Can I have my clothes back…?" Neptune asked.

Jude immediately looked away and grabbed Neptune's clothes from Compa before handing them to Neptune.

As she got dress, Neptune asked, "So, uh, how'd I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Jude asked in surprise and confusion.

"Nuh-uh," Neptune answered with a shake of her head. "My name's all I can remember. First thing I remember after that was being blacked out and talking to a tome."

The others all looked at her in confusion.

Milla put a hand on her chin in thought. "Hm… I didn't know tombs could talk."

"That's what I said!" Neptune cheered.

"You fell from the sky with us," Milla explained.

Neptune blinked in surprise as she buttoned her hoodie and then smiled. "Really? Wow. I must be pretty sturdy then."

"Jude caught you and used himself to soften your landing."

Neptune smiled gratefully. "Aaww, that's so sweet Judie."

Jude flinched lightly. "J – Judie…? My name is Jude."

Neptune waved a hand dismissively. "But using people's real names is boring. I'm the main character, I'm supposed to use catchy nicknames. Although, considering this situation, someone else might be."

Jude tilted his head in confusion. "Main… character…? What do you mean by that?"

Milla nodded in agreement. "I am confused as well."

"Confused 'bout what?" Neptune asked.

"N – Nevermind," Jude muttered before turning to Compa. "A – At any rate, can you tell us where we are Compa?"

"My apartment," Compa answered in a slightly confused, high-pitched, quiet voice.

' _Cute…_ ' Jude muttered in his mind with a light blush. "I – I meant the city."

"Oh. Planeptune, capital of Mistral."

"I see… Guess that's somewhere on Elympios."

Compa tilted her head cutely in confusion. "Elympios? I've never heard of that being somewhere on Remnant."

Jude frowned in thought. "Rem… nant…?"

"Yep."

Jude remained silent in confused disbelief.

"I'm still hungry," Neptune suddenly interjected.

"Oh right!" Compa exclaimed in realization. "I'll be right back."

"M – Mind if I help cook?" Jude asked weakly.

Compa waved a hand with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm just getting some pudding."

"What's pudding?" Neptune asked.

"Yes, I am curious as well," Milla added.

"Just wait here," Compa insisted.

* * *

"Here we are," Compa noted as she walked in with a plate that had three desserts on it. "Three milk puddings."

Milla and Neptune blinked curiously as they looked at the sweets before taking a bite at the same time, swooning loudly with ecstasy.

"Th – This is…" Milla mumbled.

"Ssoo gggooooooddd!" Neptune and Milla both exclaimed.

Jude smiled before turning to Compa. "Hey, Compa?"

Compa turned to him as well with a smile. "Yes Ju-Ju?"

Neptune perked up in realization. "Oooohh. Good nickname."

Jude flinched lightly. "J – Ju-Ju…?" Shaking his head with a sigh, he continued, "So what can you tell me about Remnant?"

"Ah, right. Well it's divided up into four nations. Mistral, Atlas, Vale, and Vacuo. Each nation is ruled over by a Goddess or CPU. Oh, that means Console Patron Unit. They also each have a capital from where they are governed, Planeptune for Mistral, Lowee for Atlas, Leanbox for Vale, and Lastation for Vacuo."

"So that's four Goddesses?"

Compa nodded happily. "Yup. Lady Green Heart of Vale, Lady Purple Heart of Mistral, Lady Black Heart of Vacuo, and Lady White Heart of Atlas."

"Is that their names or titles?"

"Pardon?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Those names. Are they really named that?"

Compa put a finger on her chin and tilted her head several times as she thought before shrugging. "Well… yeah. I think so. I wouldn't really know, I've never met them."

"I see…"

"This pudding," Milla suddenly interjected. "I want more. A lot more."

"Same," Neptune added with a big smile.

* * *

After eating several more servings of pudding, Neptune frowned and then asked, "So none of you know me?"

Jude shook his head. "No, sorry. Milla and I just got here."

"Maybe someone at the Basilicom can help," Compa suggested.

"Basili-what?"

"The Basilicom. They act as our way to communicate with the Goddesses and send them our prayers. The priests there are extremely knowledgeable. If anyone will know something about you it'd be them."

"I see. That might work."

"Right! To the Basilawhatsit!" Neptune shouted with excitement.

* * *

Compa, Jude, Neptune, and Milla stood in front of a large, regal, multicolored structure that was many meters tall.

"This is the Basilicom?" Neptune asked.

"Amazing…" Jude noted in shock.

"C'mon!" Compa urged with a smile.

* * *

The interior of the building continued the bright aesthetic, almost resembling an elegant church.

A man with blonde hair, wearing long, white and purple robes walked up to the group. "Greetings children, how may I assist you?"

"Children?" Milla wondered in confusion.

Jude explained plainly, "It's just a generic greeting priests give."

Compa motioned to Neptune next to her. "We need to know if you know our friend here."

"I see." The priest then turned to Neptune and asked, "And you are?"

"I'm Neptune!"

"Hhmm… the name sounds vaguely familiar, but I'm sorry. I can't help. Perhaps you can ask the townsfolk."

"Okay!"

* * *

Jude, Milla, Neptune, and Compa sat on a bench in the center of Planeptune's capital, defeated.

"Well that was a total bust," Neptune groaned with a sigh.

"Sorry…" Compa apologized with a pout.

"It's okay, Compa," Neptune eased with a smile.

"Come on, let's ask around," Jude urged.

"That sounds like a good idea," Milla agreed.

* * *

Sometime later, the group sat at the same bench and groaned.

"Still nothing…" Jude said with a sigh. However, his ears perked up slightly when he heard people nearby talking.

"Did you hear? Some Grimm broke through one of the outer walls," a young woman asked.

"Yeah, I heard they killed some people a while back," another young woman added with a frightened tone.

"Scary…" a third woman chimed in.

"Grimm?" Jude wondered in thought.

"You don't know?" Compa returned.

"No, I've never heard that term before."

"They are scary super strong monsters. They're all creepy and black with bony bits on them."

"I see…" Jude mumbled in thought before a woman nearby screamed as a giant, black scorpion with bony-like protrusions appeared.

"Big bug!" Neptune shouted, the nearby crowd of people fleeing, screaming.

"It's a Deathstalker!" Compa shrieked.

Jude's eyes widened before he immediately rushed over, two spiked, purple gauntlets appearing on his arms in a flash of light. "Eat this!" he shouted as energy collected around his hand. "Demon Fist!" Suddenly a blast of energy shot from his hand and struck the monster. His eyes shot even wider as he saw the woman in the grasp of its pincers, a mature woman with long, light brown hair and a tight, blue suit with a furry tail just above her round ass. "That… can't be… Presa?" His momentary distraction allowed the beast to knock him aside with its tail.

"I – It's taking her!" Compa exclaimed as the Deathstalker fled.

"H – Hey!" Jude shouted weakly before standing. "Get back here!" After regaining his balance, Jude immediately pursued the monster.

"Jude!" Milla shouted, attempting to stop him. She sighed before turning to Neptune and Compa. "Come on!"

"Righty!" Compa agreed.

"Let's ggoo!" Neptune added excitedly.

* * *

Soon, Jude, having followed the monster's trail, wound up at the large entrance to a deep cave. "It ran into this cave."

"There you are!" Milla shouted as she and the others ran up to him.

"Milla…"

Milla put up a hand as she approached him. "Don't worry, I won't try and stop you, Jude. I understand you well enough to know such an effort is fruitless."

Jude nodded appreciatively before turning his attention to the cave. "We've got to hurry in and save her." ' _I won't let her die again. Not this time._ '

"Right-o, Judie!" Neptune cheered.

* * *

The group entered the cave, and spent several minutes scouring every centimeter looking for the beast and for Presa, with little success.

"Urgh…" Neptune groaned. "This cave's too big…"

Jude looked around for any possible crevice or hole the beast could hide in. "Where is it?"

"Dunno…"

"Just where?" he snarled before kicking a rock in front of him hard, sending it flying.

"Gah!" a new voice growled. "Watch it!"

"Ah crap, sorry!" he shouted before running around the corner and seeing two people.

The first was a girl with long brown hair wearing an overly large coat, and the other was a young woman with short, bright orange hair wearing a white top with a black coat and a pink skirt, a large weapon on her back.

"Whoa…"

The brunette growled at him. "Hey, buddy, watch what yer doing!"

The other added just as loud, "Yeah! Ya hit Iffy in the foot!"

Jude gulped with concern. "Sorry about that, Iffy."

The brunette's face turned red as she looked at her friend annoyed. "I told you to stop calling me that…" She then turned her attention to Jude. "The name is IF. I'm from the Guild."

Her friend grinned excitedly. "And I'm Nora Valkyrie! Also from the Guild and an aspiring Huntress! Just like Iffy!"

Jude frowned in confusion. "Huntress?"

IF folded her arms in thought. "You don't know what a Huntress is?"

"You… hunt food?"

IF sighed in exasperation. "No. We hunt Grimm."

"… Like that giant scorpion I'm looking for?"

IF's jaw fell in disbelief. "If you don't know what a Hunter is then why in the Oblivion are you chasing a Deathstalker?"

"It kidnapped a… friend."

"Right… well leave this to the trained professionals."

Nora looked at IF confused. "We're trained?"

"Shut. Up."

Milla folded her arms and then asked, "What's a child like you doing in this cavern?"

"I'm not a child!" IF vehemently retorted, turning red.

"Yeah!" Nora added. "We just turned sixteen!"

"What's the Guild?" Jude asked in confusion.

IF tilted her head, not understanding his confusion. "You don't know what the Guild is?"

"They're not from around here," Compa explained before adding her excited voice, "Like… _really_ far away."

"Indeed," Milla commented.

"Cute…" Jude mumbled.

IF sighed and began explaining. "The Guild is an organization that gives out jobs to Hunters, Hunters in Training and Prospective Hunters who can't attend a preparatory school. Nora and I are the latter. And the Guild got a mission to hunt a Deathstalker that's been kidnapping people, that's why I'm here with Nora."

"Then we should team up then. Safety in numbers."

"Right…" IF muttered, unconvinced.

"Yippee!" Neptune cheered with excitement. "Iffy and Nora join the party! That's six members so quickly!"

Nora grinned and pumped a fist happily. "More the merrier!"

IF groaned and slapped a hand over her face. "Great… two idiots…"

"Is something wrong, Iffy?" Compa asked.

"It's IF…" IF corrected with a twitching eyebrow.

Compa merely smiled and answered, "Aaww, but Iffy's cuter."

IF stiffened as her cheeks tinted slightly.

"I know, right?" Nora chirped with a smile.

IF's eyebrows twitched furiously as she grumbled, "How come they gave _me_ some stupid nickname and they're just calling you normally?"

Nora grinned proudly. "'Cuz Nora's already as cute as it gets!"

Neptune and Compa nodded in agreement.

"… I don't know how to take that…"

"Sigh and move along?" Jude joked weakly.

"Probably…"

* * *

As the group continued through the cave, Jude started noticing large gashes on the wall. "That must be… We're almost there! Come on hurry!"

IF frowned as she saw several dried-up skeletons on the ground. "Definitely…"

"Then let's find and kill it."

"Stop!" IF suddenly shouted.

"Why? Presa's in danger!"

IF pointed to the wall, where Jude saw a large disc.

As the group looked at the strange disc, it glowed brightly before a large, bipedal, wolf-like creature emerged.

"That's a Beowulf!" IF shouted.

Jude frowned in thought as the beast stood. "… That's got to be where those things come from."

IF growled and drew two green pistols with long blades attached from her pockets. "How about we examine it _after_ we kill that thing?!"

"Right," Jude nodded before his gauntlets once more appeared and he charged at the beast, ducking one of its claws and slamming his fist into its abdomen, crashing it against the wall.

IF frowned and looked at Milla, who stood motionless. "Hey, uh, shouldn't we help?"

Milla raised an eyebrow and then shook her head. "No, Jude can handle a creature this weak on his own. So just leave him to it."

Jude rushed at the Beowulf, ducking a dual lunge from both of its arms and slammed his fist forward, bursting through the beast's chest and out its back, the creature vanishing into dust shortly.

"Whoa…" Nora mumbled in shock.

Jude sighed as he shook the ashes from his arm. "There. Now, let's smash this thing."

"Righto!" Neptune cheered before a katana appeared in her hands and she charged at the disc, only for the Deathstalker to once more drop from the ceiling, Presa unconscious in its grasp.

"Presa!" Jude shouted before the beast roared and swung its free claw at the group. Jude jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the creature's attack.

"Guess it's time to fight," Milla commented as she drew a long, black and white blade with a flat tip.

Compa then readied a massively oversized syringe.

"Eh?!" Jude gaped in disbelief. "Where'd you get that from?!"

"That's a secret," Compa replied with a smile before shooting a liquid from the syringe at Presa that caused the Deathstalker immense pain, making it drop Presa.

Jude quickly sprung to action and caught Presa before she hit the ground, but was unable to dodge the monster as it swung at him.

Milla jumped in and blocked the strike, but was sent flying back from the sheer force.

"Milla!" Jude hollered in worry.

"Crap!" IF cursed before firing at the beast, her shots proving only to agitate the monster before it backhanded her, slamming her into a wall.

The oversized scorpion turned its attention to Compa and swung its stinger at her, Milla barely managing to raise a wall of stone to protect the syringe-wielding girl.

Nora grinned and pulled out the large grenade launcher on her back and flicked a switch, causing it to transform into a massive hammer before leaping into the air and pulling the trigger, the blast slamming her weapon down onto the joint of the monster's stinger, ripping it completely off.

The Deathstalker howled in agony as it stumbled back, black liquid gushing from the injury. In its flailing it hit Nora, sending her crashing into Compa, causing the two to slam into a wall and collapse.

"Owie…" the pink-haired girl moaned in pain.

Neptune tightened her fists around her blade. "Oohh… stop hurting my friends!" Suddenly, Neptune's body was engulfed in a bright light, shining light throughout the entire cavern.

"What the…?" Jude muttered.

The light died down, revealing Neptune to be completely changed. She was significantly taller, with long purple hair that nearly reached her feet, braided in twintails and bright blue eyes with glowing white pupils, her outfit had also drastically changed to a black one-piece uniform with several pieces of armor floating around her, along with large, glowing, purple wings made of energy. "I'll take you down!" she shouted, a much deeper and more mature voice than previously.

"Wh – Whoa…"

The larger Neptune then rushed forward, a massive blade appearing in her grasp, and slashed at the large monster, easily slicing it in half with one swipe.

Milla blinked in surprise as she stood. "Impressive."

"Whoa!" Compa exclaimed in surprise and amazement. "Cool Nep-Nep!"

"The hell…?" IF muttered in confusion.

"That's not normal…" Jude added.

Neptune then looked over her larger body in thought. "What… is this…? I got bigger…" With a curious gesture her hands then grabbed at her own bosom in thought. "In more ways than one."

Jude immediately slapped a hand over his nose.

"I have nice big bazongas now!"

Jude face-faulted into the floor.

Milla chuckled lightly. "It seems they exist all over."

"Yep!" Nora chirped. However, her attention was then taken when she noticed an unusual pedestal nearby with a glowing object sitting atop it. "Whassit?"

IF paled and ran towards her. "Nora! The last time you grabbed something shiny you nearly crashed a Bullhead!"

Before she could grab it, however, a figure leapt over and snatched it.

She turned and saw a large, bipedal, grey mouse with large red eyes.

"A rat?" Milla mumbled curiously as the oversized rodent ran to a large rock nearby, upon which a figure sat.

The figure was a tall woman with pale, almost light purple, skin, short, light lavender hair that was messy, wearing a basic witch's uniform.

The rat ran up to the woman and handed the strange object to her.

"Good," she noted with a smirk before looking up at Jude and the others. "Now to deal with you."

"Who's the old lady?" the larger Neptune asked.

The woman huffed in annoyance before a long, four-bladed spear appeared in her hand that she then pointed at Neptune. "Brat." A powerful blast of energy then fired from the spear at Neptune.

"Look out!" Jude shouted as he tackled Neptune to the ground, safely away from the blast.

The woman hissed in irritation as the beam hit Jude before bouncing back at her.

Jude blinked curiously as he sat up. "Wh – What just happened…? I feel kinda… weird."

The woman growled in annoyance. "You've gotta be kidding. How come he got in the way?"

"Jude!" Milla exclaimed in worry. "Are you okay?"

Jude and the strange woman both answered at the same time. "Yes."

Milla blinked in confusion. "… Huh…?"

Jude frowned in bewilderment. "Wh – What the…?"

The pale-skinned woman snarled and fired a yellow blast of energy from her spear at Jude. "Just great. This is your fault, boy!"

Jude managed to roll to the side, avoiding the shot.

She hissed before turning to fire at Neptune once more, only for Compa to end up getting hit.

"Compa!" Jude bellowed.

The woman growled and then snarled, "Stay out of the way so I can hit Nep-Nep!" She twitched an eyebrow and remained silent momentarily as she processed what she had just said.

Jude furrowed his brow in thought before widening his eyes in realization. "Neptune! Avoid her spell! It switches things!"

"Got it!" the larger Neptune answered as she floated around the woman's back.

"What?!" the pale-skinned woman growled before turning to Jude. "You little punk! I'll burn you alive!" Almost immediately a torrent of flames shot from her spear at Jude.

He just barely dashed to the side of the attack, having to pat down flames on his sleeve. "Okay, that was too close…"

IF then fired several shots at the strange woman as Milla joined in and sent several blades of wind at her.

The woman sneered before swinging her spear, blocking all of the attacks before instantly dashing around behind Milla.

Milla's eyes widened in surprise. "That's… the Quick Step…"

"Milla!" Jude suddenly shouted. "She has my techniques!"

Milla blinked and then smirked. "Good to know."

The woman swung her spear at Milla, but the blonde spun under the attack, kicking her leg out to knock the woman off her feet, however Milla then immediately turned and swung out with a punch, slamming it into the woman's abdomen when she used Quick Step once more.

The woman tensed, coughed violently, and then growled at Milla. "… H – How…?"

With a smirk, Milla answered, "Jude's never beaten me. I always end up on top."

Jude stiffened and turned red before Nora asked, "Wait, does she mean –?"

"Sparring! She's talking about sparring! Nothing else!"

Milla blinked in thought and looked at him. "What about –?"

"Nothing! Else!"

"I – I see…"

"What?!" Hissing in annoyance, the woman jumped back and then suddenly ripped two glowing orbs from her torso and threw them to the side. "Useless!"

"Granny, look out!" the mouse shouted.

"I'M NOT OL – GAH!" the woman began to snarl, only for Neptune to slash at her back.

Nora leapt into the air and slammed her hammer down on the woman, sending the woman flying before she slammed into the mouse, sending the strange object flying as the duo fell over the edge of a cliff within the cave.

"Is it… over…?" Compa asked worriedly.

Jude sighed in relief as he picked up the strange object. "Yeah, I think."

At that moment, Presa then groaned lightly as she awoke.

"Presa!" Jude shouted before running over to her.

Presa sat up and looked around, slightly confused.

"Are you okay!?"

The woman turned to him, frightful. "I – Is it dead?"

Jude nodded slowly, still attempting to understand what he saw before him.

Milla glanced over and noticed the woman as well and, just as Jude, was surprised. "Is that…?"

"Presa…?" Jude asked with disbelief.

The woman, Presa, blinked curiously before turning to him. "You… know my name?"

"Yeah…"

Neptune pouted with frustration. "I'm the main character here. Where's my reward?" She then began to glow brightly before returning to her normal petite form. With an even deeper pout, she moaned, "Aaww… My bazongas are gone…"

"Then do you… know who I am?"

However, before Jude could answer, Neptune suddenly exclaimed, "Whoa! Another amnesiac!"

"So weird!" Compa added in what Jude had termed her "cute voice" inside his own mind.

"Yeah!" Nora cheered as well.

Milla sighed and then walked up to Presa, the woman still looking at the group, perplexed. "Do you remember how you got here?"

Presa shook her head in response as she stood. "No. All I remember is my name, and falling and… _someone_ reaching out to my hand…"

Jude frowned slightly. "I see… Let's get you out of here and to safety."

"You were falling too!?" Neptune interjected, excited. "Wowza!"

Presa nodded slowly. "I… I think…"

"Amazing!" Compa exclaimed. "Just like Nep-Nep!"

"Who was that strange woman?" Presa asked.

"No clue," Jude noted. "But that power she has is terrifying…"

"No kidding," IF added.

Jude then turned to Neptune and Milla. "Milla. Neptune. If we ever run into her again stay out of her line of fire."

Milla nodded in understanding. "Right."

"You got it!" Neptune cheered before smirking slyly. "Ssoo… who's the foxy lady?"

Jude sighed as he glanced at Presa and then back to Neptune. "Presa. A… friend." However, his attention was changed as the strange object he held began to shine and vibrate. "Uuhh…"

Suddenly, a soft new voice, emanating from the object, asked, "Can anyone hear me?"

Jude blinked in confusion before flattening his brow. "… Oh boy… Now I'm hearing voices…"

"Hey it's Histy!" Neptune suddenly shouted.

"Who?"

"Ignore her," the voice urged calmly.

"You must be the tome she was talking about."

"Yes, I am."

Milla frowned in thought. "And what exactly is a tomb exactly?"

Jude sighed and corrected, "Tome Milla, tome."

Histoire remained silent for a moment. "I suppose you could say I'm like a Great Spirit of sorts."

"Great whatnow?" IF, Neptune, Nora, and Compa all asked in unison.

"You know about the Great Spirits?" Jude asked in surprise.

"I've been in here for three hundred years. I've had time to read."

"Ah… good point."

"Anyway, I assume Neptune hasn't told you anything?"

"Told us what?" Compa asked.

With a sigh, Histoire began, "That answers my question. Remnant is in danger, and to save it, I first need to escape this prison I'm in. Unfortunately, the key to open it was broken. What I'm communicating with you through is one of those Key's Fragments. If you can find them all I can get out and we can stop Remnant's destruction."

"… Where do we start?" Jude asked after a moment of silence.

"You'll help?!" Histoire asked in astonishment.

Jude nodded resolutely. "Of course."

"I – I'm shocked… thank you."

"If I have the power to do something to help others I'll do it."

Milla chuckled lightly. "Indeed he will. It gets us into trouble a lot, actually."

Jude's face reddened in embarrassment.

"Thank you." Histoire then explained, "The first task you need to accomplish is locate the Key Fragments. There's one in each land."

Nora leapt with excitement. "Yay! Roadtrip!"

"I see." Jude then looked to the others around him and asked, "Which land is closest?"

"Vacuo," Compa answered.

IF pulled a small device out of her pocket and slid it open. "Right. The next train there should be in a day or two if we're lucky."

Jude and Milla both looked at the device curiously.

"What is that?" Jude asked.

IF looked at the device then at Jude several times before flattening her brows incredulously. "… It's a Scroll. Everyone has one. Have you been living under a rock?"

Milla raised a hand and remarked, "In a way I have been."

"Where I'm from we don't have anything like that."

"I… see…"

"What now?" Neptune asked.

"Hold on," Jude interjected, looking at the Key Fragment. "Can you answer a few more questions?"

Histoire sighed lightly. "Some. But it requires a lot of energy to communicate through these Key Fragments, so I can't keep the connection for much longer. So ask."

"Well… Put succinctly, how did you get locked in wherever you are and what does that woman have to do with anything?"

"Unfortunately, that is too much to explain in the short time I have. But that woman is Arfoire, and she is the one spreading those Grimm-Spawning discs."

Jude narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "There must be more to it though. We'll talk more after we get the next Key Fragment."

"Very well." With that, the light from the Key Fragment diminished before vanishing entirely.

IF sighed lightly. "Let's get going."

Jude nodded as he stood. "Yeah. To Vacuo."

"I'm going too," Presa interjected.

Jude shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

Presa narrowed her eyes. "I'm going. You two are the only link to my past and memories."

Jude remained silent, he could not refute such a point.

"I don't see a problem," Milla commented.

"Yeah!" Neptune exclaimed with a fist pump. "We need a magey type Kitsune in the party!"

"Faunus," IF corrected. "Faunus. Kitsune's a bit rude."

Presa tilted her head curiously as her tail swished about. "Is that so? It is what I am though."

Jude put a hand on his head in thought. "I'm guessing Faunus are people with animal like traits?"

IF shrugged in reply. "More or less. They're… not treated very well."

"I see…"

* * *

Eventually, the group managed to find their way out of the cave and began walking back to the main city of Planeptune.

As they walked, Neptune asked, "So… How do we get ta Vacuo?"

"We need to use one of the trains," Compa explained.

"Oh?" Milla noted with a raised eyebrow. "Sounds fun."

Jude frowned in thought. "What's a train?"

IF gaped in disbelief. "… You're joking, right? They don't have trains where you're from either? Must be a _really_ backwater place…"

* * *

As the group walked into the city's station, IF looked at a large information board before frowning. "Damn… none of the trains are running today. Looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow."

Jude looked at the board and pointed to one of the names. "What about this one? SDC-157?"

IF waved a hand dismissively. "That's a freight train, not a passenger train."

"I see… It wouldn't be the most comfortable ride, but it'd still get us to where we're going."

"… You can't be serious. I'm not interested in train hopping."

"When it comes to something this important, you really can't afford to be picky."

Presa interjected, "Besides, wouldn't these freight trains need security? We could offer our services in return for a free ride to Vacuo."

IF groaned heavily in frustration. "Geez…"

* * *

"Are there any seats in here…?" Compa asked as the lot sat in one of the train cars.

Jude replied, "It transports cargo, not people, so I doubt it. So just lay down a blanket or something."

"Right…" she pouted.

Neptune then suddenly laid on her head on Jude's legs. "I'mma lay on your lap."

However, Jude quickly picked her up and put her head on Compa's lap.

"Aw…"

"I'm going to patrol the other cars. By the way… what's this train carrying?"

IF put a hand on her chin. "Well considering it's from the Schnee Dust Company, probably just Dust and maybe some machinery."

Jude frowned in confusion. "… Why would anyone care about dust?"

IF sighed in exasperation. "… Seriously? You don't know what Dust is, do you?"

"I… guess not?"

IF responded by pulling a bullet out of her weapon and showing it, the interior being filled with a ground up red powder.

"Huh?"

"This. It's Dust. It's a mineral found all over Remnant, it comes in various types, with each color denoting its effects. It also comes in either crystal or powdered forms. The stuff inside my ammo is powdered fire Dust."

"I see… I assume it is highly combustible. Though, how do you activate it?"

"Simple. Friction." She then released the bullet, which hit the ground and exploded violently. "An Aura can do it, too."

Jude raised an eyebrow curiously. "Aura?"

"Yeah. It's something all living things have, basically it's our soul. It lets us use our Semblance, partially protects us from damage, and lets us use Dust based technology."

Milla put a hand on her chin in thought. "Hm… Jude…"

Jude nodded in agreement. "Yeah. That 'Aura' you're talking about sounds a lot like what we call mana."

"Mana?" IF questioned.

"Magical energy produced by the mind and used for magic and powering Spirit Fossils."

"Magic isn't real," she deadpanned.

"No, it is. We just call it different things. Can you show me an example of what you call a Semblance? From what you're saying it sounds like what we call magic."

IF stiffened and her face reddened with a gulp.

"What?"

"W – Well…" she muttered before the train rattled with an explosion.

"What was that?"

"Noidealet'sgocheckitoutnow!" IF sputtered quickly.

"You guys stay here. Milla, keep them safe," Jude urged before heading to the next car.

"Now where…?" he muttered as he walked around the train car, hearing more rumbles and explosions nearby. He rushed to the sound, opened the next door, only to be greeted by the severed head of a humanoid machine flying past him. "Well… that can't be good." Turning his attention forward, he saw a flatbed car where numerous machines were fighting. Looking into the rabble, he saw two figures at the center, trashing all of the robots.

The first was a man with red hair and two short horns, clad all in black with an ornate white mask.

The second was a young woman with long, flowing black hair, a tight-fitting black and white uniform, wielding a short sword that could shift into a pistol form with a long tether attached to the sheath, who also wore an ornate white mask with red markings, though her most striking feature were the two, feline ears atop her head.

"What… the heck is going on…?" Jude muttered in disbelief, though this seemed enough for the two masked attackers to hear him, their attention instantly snapping towards him. "Uh… hey?"

The man immediately raised the sheath of his weapon and pulled the trigger, firing shots at Jude.

"Adam, stop! He's obviously not with them!" the girl pleaded.

Adam retaliated, "It doesn't matter, Blake. He's still a human."

Jude frowned as he raised his fists to fight. "I'd ask that you stop fighting, otherwise I'll –" he warned, stopping when a bullet grazed his shoulder.

"That's my answer, you scum."

Jude frowned in frustration. "Well, I suppose a peaceful resolution isn't an option, and I certainly can't let a guy like you have his way. So I hope you understand." Jude kicked off from his position and was, almost in an instant, right at Adam's face.

Blake jumped back slightly in disbelief. ' _I – I barely saw him move!?_ '

Adam barely dodged Jude's strike, turned, and slashed at him, though Jude slammed a powerful blow into Adam's midsection, sending him flying through several robots and embedding into a wall.

"Wh – Whoa…"

The red-haired man snarled before standing and charged at the teen, firing several shots at him.

"Aqua Protection!" Jude shouted, three large orbs of water forming that blocked the shots and scattering water, causing Adam not to notice Jude approach him, and send a kick with two powerful punches at him. "Cerberus Strike!"

Adam coughed blood as he was sent flying into the train's final car, slamming into a container of crystals that went flying through the area.

Jude looked at the red crystals and remembered IF's words. "Sun Spark!" he shouted before a blast of pure light shot forth at the crystals, causing a massive conflagration. Jude gaped in shock as the car, and seemingly Adam, vanished. "Wow… that's not good. I didn't think it'd be that explosive."

Blake's sword then folded into a pistol which she pointed at him.

Jude frowned and raised his hands. "I'd… really like to avoid more fighting if I can. I only fought that guy because he refused not to."

Blake slouched in surprise slightly. "… You're not going to attack me simply because I was with him?"

"Well, you didn't really give me much reason to. You didn't attack me first and you even tried to tell your comrade not to go after me. So why would I have any reason to attack you, beautiful?"

Her ears twitched slightly in thought. "… Blake."

"Jude Mathis."

Blake frowned curiously. "Do you… actually trust me?"

"No. I don't trust you, not yet at least. But I'm willing to give you the chance. But my friends are more important." He then noticed Adam's weapon, a sword where the sheath doubled as a rifle, and picked it up curiously. "So, mind telling me why you and the bullhead were attacking this train?"

Blake's ears flattened in worry. "Can you promise you won't get angry?"

"No, I can't. But I can promise I'll at least let you explain your reasons." He then gently pulled her mask away, exposing her bright amber eyes, with sharp, slitted pupils. "So do tell."

She stiffened slightly as her cheeks tinged but nodded. "The company who owns this train is the Schnee Dust Company. They treat Faunus like garbage. The Faunus they hire work in horrible conditions and are paid little if anything."

Jude's face curled slightly with anger. "I see. Dust is a dangerous resource but a needed one. Though why can't the Faunus just get jobs elsewhere?"

"They get out into absurd contracts, and if they violate them they go to prison. Plus, most people don't trust us."

"That's not right…"

Blake merely shrugged. "Unfortunately, we can't fully blame them. You know, I'm surprised you don't know any of this."

Jude stiffened and then laughed weakly. "I'm… not from around here you could say."

Tilting her head in confusion, she muttered, "I… see? Anyway, I should get going."

He nodded in agreement as he motioned to the nearby enclosed car. "Yeah. It's kinda windy out here. Let's go inside."

"That's not what I mean," she responded quietly.

"… Then what did you mean?"

"That I need to leave. If you're seen with me it could cause you trouble."

"Why? Because of racist bigots? I can hold my own. Besides, I'm more worried about you."

"H – Huh?"

"I've fought a king and a crazed goddess, I'm not overly worried with what could come at me. But if Faunus are treated as badly as everyone says it could be a problem. Oh!"

Blake flinched in surprise before he pulled a strip of cloth from his outfit and looped it up and around her ears, tying it into a bow.

"And… there. Now nobody will know you're a Faunus. And it should be loose enough not to bother your cute ears."

She blinked curiously and then wiggled her ears underneath the bow, causing it to simply look like it was fluttering, and then gave a small smile with a light blush.

Jude watched with concern. "Is something wrong?"

Blake stiffened and shook her head vigorously. "N – Nothing!"

"Okay? Now come on. I want you to meet my friends."

Her ears perked up sharply with surprise. "… Huh?"

* * *

As the duo walked back into the train car, Neptune leapt up with excitement. "New friend!"

"New girl!" Nora cheered.

Blake winced slightly and stepped behind Jude somewhat.

He frowned and scolded the two. "Hey, come on, don't scare her. She nearly got killed by some out of control robots."

Blake looked at him in surprise.

"I suppose that's what all that noise was?" Milla asked.

"Yeah. The crazy things ended up shooting a crate full of Fire Dust too."

IF narrowed her eyes. "Wow. Wonder what set them off."

Jude just shrugged. "No idea. Maybe faulty wiring? Those things didn't seem all that competent."

IF's eyes narrowed further but she sighed and shrugged in reply. "Maybe. Well, it is Atlas tech, so that's not overly shocking. The first few runs of everything they make tend to be somewhat janky. You can thank Avenir for that. A company based in Vacuo. They used to operate out of Atlas, but were run out of the country after a few tanks they made went haywire. But they've been so successful in Vacuo that they buy up all the good mechanical talent, meaning Atlas has to just wing it."

Jude frowned incredulously.

"They're extremely secretive though, so I don't know much more about them."

"Guess we'll find out more in Vacuo."

Neptune pointed to Adam's sword and asked, "So… where'd you get the cool sword rifle?"

"… Found it in a box."

IF's brow flattened in disbelief. "You just… found it?"

"Yes. Why?"

"It's cool," Nora commented.

"Mind if I see it?" Milla asked, stretching out her hand.

He handed it to her with a smile. "Not at all."

"Hm… weighted well, nice and sharp. Would you mind if I kept this for a time?"

"Go ahead."

"Good."

* * *

Sometime later, after night had fallen and the others were asleep, Blake walked up to Jude and sat beside him. "Why did you lie for me?"

"Simple. So you can make friends with the others more easily."

Blake furrowed her brow with suspicion. "I… see… Why do you care so much?"

"Because you're not a bad person."

Her expression fell solemnly. "I… wouldn't be so sure of that."

"And why is that?"

"I've done… things. Bad things. Horrible things."

Jude sighed and folded his arms as he sat in consideration. "Did you intend to hurt people?"

"Huh? Well… no."

"When you did, did you enjoy it?"

"Of course not," she answered bluntly.

"Was your goal just to cause havoc, or were you trying to make things better?"

"Improve things. I'd never hurt someone just to hurt someone."

Jude nodded firmly with a smile. "Then you're not a bad person. So stop thinking thoughts that make you lonely."

Blake looked at him in silent surprise for several moments.

Jude frowned in confusion. "What?"

"N – Nothing!" she sputtered before turning away.

"Okay…?"

* * *

The group soon disembarked the train into a station within the capital of Vacuo, Lastation.

Jude looked around in thought, the very dark, mechanical, and robotic view of the city felt very familiar. "This is Lastation?"

"Yep," Compa answered with a smile. "… I think."

"I think it may be," Presa added.

"Ah… It's a lot like Elympios."

"Where?" IF asked.

"A city where I'm from that's a lot like this. Lots of metal and wires."

"I see…"

"Where to now?" Presa asked.

IF suggested, "I suppose we could try the Basilicom first."

"Okay!" Neptune cheered energetically. "Wonder if the CPU is all Steampunky like her city."

Blake sighed and turned to Jude. "… Is she always like this?"

"So it seems," he answered uncommittedly with a shrug.

"Nora's just as bad," IF added.

"Lovely…" Blake groaned, her bow drooping with annoyance.

Jude patted her shoulder gently. "Hey, it's okay. I'll do my best to keep you in line."

IF then added, "We should go ahead and check the goddess' blog."

Jude raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Blog? What's that?"

Blake gaped in disbelief. "… Seriously?"

"He's not from around here," Compa repeated.

"Yeah, I know, but seriously. Don't you have a Scroll?"

"My dad has a few of his recipes written on some scrolls, but I don't know about anything written on them called a blog," Jude answered.

Blake slapped a hand on her face in exasperation. "Not _that_ kind of Scroll, this," she grumbled, pulling hers from her pocket.

"You mean that same piece of magitechnology IF has?"

"Magiwhat?"

IF sighed and pulled one of the many Scrolls from her belt and opened a page on it. "This. It's sort of a forum where Black Heart posts things about her life or whatever she feels like to keep her worshippers updated or entertained."

Milla looked over it in thought. "Hm… I will have to remember this."

Jude just stood silently until she handed him the phone, the image loaded on it showing "Black Heart's Blog" in bold, black letters at the top. He read through it curiously for several moments. "Well her personality seems agreeable enough. So, she is most likely reasonable. Which is good."

"This place sure is different from Planeptune," Neptune commented as she looked around.

"Of course," IF replied simply. "Each nation is distinctly different from the others. For example, Vale is full of forests, and Atlas is covered in snow."

Jude gulped slightly. "I hope Lowee's leader isn't like Kanbalar's."

Nora frowned in bewilderment. "Kanbanana?"

"Kanbalar. A city where I'm from. Its leader is… different."

* * *

The group soon approached a building much like Planeptune's Basilicom, however Lastation's had far more muted colors with a narrowed coloration of greys and browns.

"This is Lastation's Basilicom?" Presa asked, slightly disturbed. "It looks… uninviting…"

IF nodded in response. "Yes. Let's head inside."

Upon entering, Neptune immediately shouted, "'Scuse me! I'm here to see Lady Black Heart, is she around?!"

Another priest, dressed similarly to the first but with black accents on his robes, walked towards the group, grumbling in annoyance. "What do you want brat? This isn't a playground, scram." He then pointed to Presa with a grimace. "And get that animal out of here, we don't allow pets inside the Basilicom."

Jude growled at the man as IF narrowed her eyes.

Neptune pouted in annoyance. "Hey! What's your deal buster?"

"We really need to meet the CPU," Compa explained. "We're trying to get Nep-Nep's memory back."

Neptune immediately perked up. "Ooh, I know! This must be an event flag where I just need to name myself! I'm Neptune, and these are Compa, Judie, Iffy, Milly, and these are –"

"Stop rambling!" the man snarled. "I don't care who or what you are. Now get out of here!"

"How rude," Milla huffed as she folded her arms. "You call yourself a priest yet deny those that seek the wisdom of the one you serve. Most suspicious."

IF put a hand on her waist with a frown. "They say the clothes make the man, but I guess your CPU isn't all that great."

The priest huffed in derision. "Say what you want. I could care less what that Black Heart is called."

"Okay, that's it," Jude interjected, annoyed.

"Huh?" Neptune mumbled curiously.

"We're leaving. This guy isn't trustworthy if he doesn't even care about the CPU he serves."

IF nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're not going to get anywhere."

"Good, now leave and take that mutt with yo –" the Priest began to snarl before Jude suddenly lashed out with a punch, sending the man slamming into a wall.

IF gaped in disbelief. "… I think it's time we leave."

* * *

Outside, IF proceeded shouting at Jude. "What were you thinking!?"

"That jerk kept talking to Presa like she's some animal! He's lucky I didn't do worse!"

"He's a racist! They're everywhere. Besides, we'll probably be getting attention from the authorities now."

Blake ignored their conversation as she hummed in thought.

"Something wrong Blakey?" Neptune questioned.

"Somethings not right. From what I heard of Vacuo, racism is the lowest in all the nations by a large margin due to the Goddess Black Heart's policies."

IF nodded in agreement. "That's what I'd heard too, but at the same time, news out of Vacuo became a drip feed a couple years ago. Now unless the White Fang blow something up nobody knows what's going on here."

Jude's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Meaning Black Heart is losing control of her nation."

* * *

 **And there you have it, the first chapter of Tales of Neptunia: Redux. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it, so be sure to let me know with a review. If you were confused, unsure, or have questions about anything, let me know and I will do what I can to address them. However, if your queries involve future story events or anything spoiler related, you will have better luck with a PM. Until then, bye-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

 **Greetings and salutations, everyone! I have come with another chapter of Tales of Neptunia Re;Birth! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, and that you enjoy this one also, so be sure to leave a review if you did. As usual, I would like to thank Bakuto Masaki for all of his help in making this story. So with that, onto the reviewer responses!**

 **Guest: Now. I have a lot of stories in a lot of different genres and mediums, so I usually just write whatever I have the inspiration for at the time. As a result some stories can go extended lengths of time not being updated where others will get updated often. It all depends on what has my interest at the time. I'm sure a lot of you don't particularly like that, but I'm not being paid to write these stories, it's just a hobby, and if I'm not being paid I'm not going to force myself to write something I don't want to at that moment.**

 **demonfox2140: Like Jaune. Also, it's IF, not If. I had no idea what you were talking about at first. Sorry, that kind of thing isn't something I'd do.**

 **BlackAceStriker: Which is why I put them together. It's certainly rare for him to get that mad.**

 **Sonicdude8: Same. Pun noticed.**

 **Not an overwhelming amount, but enough. On with the story!**

* * *

"What were you thinking!?" IF shouted at Jude.

"That jerk kept talking to Presa like she's some animal! He's lucky I didn't do worse!"

"He's a racist! They're everywhere. Besides, we'll probably be getting attention from the authorities now."

Blake ignored their conversation as she hummed in thought.

"Something wrong Blakey?" Neptune questioned.

"Something's not right. From what I heard of Vacuo, racism is the lowest in all the nations by a large margin due to the Goddess Black Heart's policies."

IF nodded in agreement. "That's what I'd heard too, but at the same time, news out of Vacuo became a drip feed a couple years ago. Now unless the White Fang blow something up nobody knows what's going on here."

Jude's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Meaning Black Heart is losing control of her nation."

"Basically," IF agreed.

"Now what do we do?" Presa questioned.

"I'm so mad!" Neptune suddenly growled. "The Basilicom is one thing, but you guys are another! Why'd we leave?!"

"Simple," Jude answered. "We weren't going to get anywhere with that jerk."

IF nodded in recognition. "Yeah. Didn't you notice? He showed absolutely no respect at all to their CPU. And Jude punching him through a wall didn't help either."

"He had it coming," Jude huffed.

"Ah! You're right…" Compa noted in her excited tone. "He didn't treat the Goddess' name with respect. That's weird…"

Jude nodded. "Which means Black Heart has lost control and is not in her home. And if I was a CPU that got treated in such a way in my own home I wouldn't stay there."

"Indeed," Milla added.

Neptune tilted her head curiously. "What do you mean? Maybe they're, like, buddy-buddy and talk really casual."

"Seriously?" Jude retorted in surprise.

Blake added, "Maybe it's difficult for her to comprehend that some people are just mean."

"There's no way people in this land would call their CPU by name, merely out of respect," IF elucidated.

Milla nodded in agreement. "Indeed. No deity would tolerate such overly blatant disrespect."

Jude nodded once more. "Yeah. Take Planeptune for example."

"Yeah, they treated their CPU with respect, but that guy was just treating theirs with scorn."

Blake interjected, "CPUs would not tolerate such things from their Priest. At all."

"You're right," Presa added, "but why?"

Compa turned to IF and asked, "Iffy, you were traveling all over the world, right? Do you know something?"

IF shrugged in response, not having a proper answer. "I'm not sure. I've spent most of my time with the Guild in Planeptune."

Neptune chuckled lightly. "So much for the 'adventuring' character, eh Iffy? But don't worry, we won't kick you out just because you faked your resume."

Nora popped up and argued, "Hey! Iffy faked nothin', Neppy! And we never gave you one either."

IF twitched an eyebrow in annoyance but deigned not to respond. "Anyway, why don't we do some quests while we're here?"

Neptune furrowed her brow in thought. "Don't we still have some money?" She then stiffened in shock. "D – Don't tell me you used it on your own pleasures, Iffy!"

"No," IF spat bluntly. "I'm not like you, who sneaks out to buy pudding."

Blake nodded, reflexively putting a hand on her waist pouch. "Why would she? You're the one that probably spent it all on pudding."

Neptune lurched back with a gasp. "Gah! I've been found out!"

Milla merely whistled innocently to the side.

"Yep, you did," Blake added, sealing her pouch.

"Anyway," IF redirected, "remember how the Key Fragment was with that disc in Mistral? It should be the same in Vacuo."

Blake tilted her head to the side in bewilderment. "Key what?"

Jude sighed heavily. "It's a… long story. There's something big going on, and we need someone's help to stop it. But to do that, we need to unlock the cage she's in, and the key has been shattered into four pieces. Each land has one of the Fragments. We have one currently, and we're looking for the second piece here in Vacuo. And we hoped to get Black Heart's help."

"You've got a point," Presa noted.

"Ah!" Neptune suddenly exclaimed. "You're a genius, Iffy! I'm sorry I thought you were useless earlier!"

Compa laughed weakly. "Erm, Nep-Nep, I don't think you needed to bring up that last part…"

Jude nodded in concurrence. "Yeah. It's not good for morale."

IF sighed in exasperation. "Let's just get to the Guild."

* * *

The group walked into the Guild building and looked through various job postings and requests, bypassing most of them.

Compa stopped in front of one. "Hey, look at this quest. Someone wants some monsters killed."

Milla raised an eyebrow. "Aren't all of them like that?"

"Yeah, everyone wants some Grimm killed," Blake added.

IF shook her head in denial. "Not all. Some involve collecting things and others involve finding something. But for our purposes, the monster-killing ones are what we want to stick to."

Blake nodded in agreement. "And the bigger the Grimm, the bigger the payout."

"Yeah," Jude added, "that'd be the quickest way to find what we're after."

"Then let's grab one!" Nora cheered.

"Yeah!" Neptune cheered.

* * *

The group walked through the streets of Lastation looking for the one who requested the job.

However, as they did, Jude looked ahead and saw a young woman with short, messy blue hair and amber eyes, a small bandage on her left cheek, wearing bronze welding goggles atop her head, a black tube top under a mostly unbuttoned red jacket that showed her moderate cleavage, a white scarf, light brown slacks, and simple black shoes.

"Oh!" Compa exclaimed as she saw the woman. "Is that her? The one who needs us to fight Grimm?"

"I think so," Jude noted.

"She's kinda small…" Neptune commented, perplexed. "I was thinking like, a big burly man or something."

"Why on Remnant would you think _that_?" Presa asked with confusion and surprise, Blake scooting away from the purple-haired girl in worry.

"She's staring at us…" Compa noted lightly, "now she's waving… I think she's the right person."

With a shrug, IF stated, "I suppose she's come to the same conclusion about us."

"Then let us head over and except her quest," Milla urged.

"So it's you girls?" the blue-haired woman asked as they approached. "You're gonna take the work I ordered?"

Jude raised a hand weakly. "Uh, I'm a guy."

The woman leaned to the side slightly. "Huh? Oh, sorry, didn't see you."

Jude slumped slightly. "A – Am I that easy to ignore…?"

Neptune patted his back softly. "Aaww, Judie's all depressed."

IF just sighed in frustration.

"Are you guys sure you'll be okay?" the woman asked with concern.

Jude nodded. "Yeah, I will get it done."

"Yes _we_ will," IF remarked sharply as she smacked him on the arm gently, Blake nodding in agreement to her.

"Are you guys sure you'll be okay?" the woman asked with concern.

"We will be fine," Milla answered. "They have Jude and me with them."

"Yep!" Nora chirped.

"Yeah," IF answered as well with a nod. "My name is IF. And these are Nora, Neptune, Compa, Milla, Jude, Blake, and Presa."

"I see," the woman mumbled thought before shrugging. "Well, I guess you'll be fine. My name's Chian and I run a small factory called Passé. Now, no use standing around here. Follow me."

* * *

Soon, the group were standing inside of a small restaurant with multiple tables scattered throughout and a bar on one end with tall, green barstools.

"Welcome to my home," Chian greeted as she led the group in. "It's not much but hopefully it'll do."

"Huh," Jude mumbled in thought, "it's pretty decent if you ask me."

"I think it looks nice," Blake noted, looking around.

IF folded her arms in mild confusion. "Didn't you say you ran a factory? This looks more like a cafeteria."

"She probably has more than one job," Blake interjected.

Chian nodded and explained, "My parents run the cafeteria. The factory is next door." Rubbing the bandage on her cheek lightly, she continued, "I'm sure you'd rather speak somewhere cleaner."

"A reasonable assumption," Milla added.

"Dibs on the barstool!" Neptune exclaimed before hopping one of said barstools and spinning around on it. "With this cafeteria you could order a heck load of puddings!"

"Really?!" Milla asked with great excitement.

IF coldly chided, "No. You're still not getting any for wasting so much of our money on them."

"That's not gonna create revenue, you know?" Chian chided. "Anyway, the factory isn't enough, so we make do with the cafeteria too." Chian rubbed her cheek lightly again as she spoke.

Jude frowned slightly in concern. "Do you need help? It looks like you're hurt a little bit."

"Huh?" Chian mumbled before turning to him.

"Your cheek. It looks like it hurts."

"Oh, this?" she noted, putting a hand on her cheek. "It's nothing. I just scratched my cheek working on some of the machines."

"I see…" Jude mumbled, unconvinced. "Still, it might get infected, you should at least let me take a look."

Chian chuckled lightly. "What are you, a doctor?"

"Yes," Jude answered bluntly.

Compa immediately stiffened. "Wh – What…?"

Jude turned to her and explained, "Before getting involved with Milla I was attending medical school. I was actually in my final year. I was about to take the final exam for my license, but I was already working as a doctor in the college's clinic."

"Wow…" Blake muttered quietly.

"What?" he asked, seeing everyone's shocked expressions.

"You're that young and a full-fledged doctor," she added, Compa starting to pout in the corner.

Jude's cheeks began to turn red as he looked intently at his feet. "R – Really? I started when I was twelve."

"WHAT!?" they all shouted, minus Milla, causing Jude to stumble back in shock.

"L – Loud…"

"How old _are_ you…?" IF questioned.

"F – Fifteen…?"

Nora gaped slightly before tapping her friend's shoulder. "Wow… He's near our age Iffy…"

Neptune noticed Compa's increasing pout. "Why ya frownin' Compa?"

"N – No reason!" she retorted suddenly, forcing a smile.

"Okay…?"

Turning the subject, Jude looked back at Chian. "So want me to take a look?"

Chian answered slowly before sighing and pulling the bandage from her cheek, flinching slightly as it tugged on the skin.

"Hmm…" Jude hummed as he examined it. "It doesn't look too bad. A bit deep though for my liking. What did you cut yourself on?"

"A piece of shrapnel," the blue-haired woman answered plainly.

IF furrowed her brow incredulously. "Shrapnel? Did a grenade go off by accident or something?"

"No. The test target just exploded with more speed and ferocity than I expected. More than likely an over-infusion of Fire Dust."

"Test target?" Jude asked as he continued looking around the injury.

Chian just nodded. "Yeah. Part of a project I'm working on."

"What kind?"

Chian smirked slyly. "Top secret, but it's related to the job."

"I see… Well, I can use some Healing Artes to close it up."

"Healing Artes?" she asked, having never heard the term before.

"Yes," Jude answered simply before putting his hand over the cut, his hand glowing faintly with a warm, green light.

"Wwhhooaa…" Neptune muttered in astonishment.

"What are you…?" Chian wondered in confusion. After a moment, though, she added with a small smile, "It's warm…"

"Sorry to interrupt," IF spoke up, "but mind telling us the details of this mission?"

"That can wait until I'm done healing her," Jude shot back with a light frown.

IF sighed in defeat. "Fine…"

"Good." Jude then refocused on Chian, the light from his hand increasing slightly as the cut on Chian's cheek began to slowly shrink more and more until it vanished. Pulling his hand away, he turned to Chian and asked, "How do you feel?"

"A lot better," Chian replied as she rubbed the spot in surprise.

Jude nodded to himself as he stepped away from her. "Good. No infection in it at all."

"Whoa… it doesn't hurt at all… How…?"

"Healing magic," he answered bluntly.

Chian just stared at him in disbelief. "… Seriously?"

"Yes," he replied with a slightly confused nod.

Chian rubbed the back of her head in consideration. "I didn't realize that was even a thing. You sure it wasn't a Semblance?"

"No, it's not a Semblance. It's something most people where I'm from can do to some degree."

"Hungry…" Neptune moaned.

"Can we get back on topic now?" IF urged.

Chian nodded in response. "Yes of course. I need you to kill some Grimm obstructing the trade route. It used to be safe, but recently a large Nevermore showed up and took roost there. And with that route blocked, all trade has stopped."

"Ah…"

"Why hasn't anyone done anything sooner?" Jude questioned.

Chian sighed heavily. "Well… they've tried. But no one's made it back alive."

"I see…"

Milla narrowed her eyes and then glanced at Jude. "That sounds like a Devil's Beast."

Jude nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"Devil Whatsit?" Nora questioned, bewildered.

"It's nothing."

Chian then handed a piece of paper to Jude. "This is where I think the Nevermore has roosted. I don't know if you guys can actually take it down, but, good luck."

Jude nodded in return.

"Let's go," IF insisted.

* * *

"Is this the road?" Neptune asked as they entered a long, hillside path.

"I believe so," Presa answered.

"I think it is…" Blake added, looking over the map.

"Be careful not to fall," Jude warned as they began walking the path, looking at a steep cliff to their left.

"Righto!" Neptune cheered. "Let's find that monster!"

Jude frowned in thought as he looked around. "I don't like this, something's not right, so be careful."

"Like what…?" Blake asked, her ears curling somewhat under her ribbon.

"I don't know… Let's just find this thing."

On one of the cliffs overlooking the road, a figure stood above, watching the group. "So… she's here. Though who are those with her? No matter. If they interfere I'll kill them too." After a moment, the figure noticed Jude look toward her and ducked down swiftly. ' _Crap! Did he see me!?_ '

* * *

Jude frowned as the others continued walking, looking up at the cliff. ' _There's someone there… It'd probably be best to wait to confront them._ '

"Something wrong?" Blake asked, seeing Jude standing behind the others.

"It's nothing," he answered before joining the rest. "Just thought I heard something."

"Right…" Blake answered before turning to where he was looking in confusion.

* * *

"I'm tired…" Compa moaned as she sat on a rock.

"Yeah… I'm pooped…" Neptune added as she sat next to the pink-haired nurse.

"Oh come on," IF grumbled, "we've only just started!"

"Indee –" Milla began to say but was interrupted by Neptune.

"Let's have a pudding break!" Neptune cheered.

Milla, who then began to appear exhausted as well, sat next to the hyperactive girl. "A break is a great idea!"

Blake gaped in surprise. "… She can't be serious…"

Jude merely sighed.

IF groaned in annoyance. "Wha –?! You too?!"

Jude put a hand on the brunette's shoulder. "IF. Don't fight it. When Milla is dead-set on something she won't stop. Besides Compa isn't the physical type like the rest of us. It'd be bad if she overexerts herself."

IF just sighed in defeat.

"So just calm down and I'll get some food ready."

Compa frowned with a heavy pout. "I'm sorry I'm so weak…"

Jude flinched, feeling guilty for the girl's solemn state. "H – Hey now. Don't talk like that! You're just not built for long walks. I was like you when I first started traveling with Milla."

Compa turned to him in surprise. "R – Really…?"

Milla nodded with a small smile. "He was indeed. I had to look after him quite a few times."

Jude turned to her with a deadpan expression, and challenged flatly, "And I had to look after you too, with how you had zero understanding on how to be human."

"Wait, what?" Blake asked, surprise.

Milla nodded in return, a smile still on her face. "Yes, that was quite amusing. Experiencing hunger for the first time was quite an experience."

Blake frowned, being ignored.

"… Huh…?" IF mumbled in confusion.

Compa, after taking a bite of pudding, then turned to Jude curiously. "Hey, Ju-Ju, how'd you and Mi-Mi meet?"

"Huh?" Jude mumbled slightly. "Oh, uh… Hehe… kind of a funny story, actually… You see, I was attending medical school when I had to go to a large laboratory in the city. I had a certificate to deliver to one of my professors and accidentally dropped it to the river below. And when I went to get it, that's where I saw Milla. Trying to break _in_ to the laboratory. She was also using magic circles to walk on water."

Nora's eyes widened. "Cooool…"

"Ooh," Neptune cooed in amazement, "that sounds cool!"

Jude just chuckled lightly. "I guess that's one way to see it. Anyway, I saw her down there and called out to see what she was doing."

"Something which I specifically told him not to," Milla interjected. "So when he did it again I put him in a water sphere."

Suddenly, an orb of light appeared next to Milla with expanded and then formed a young woman with blue-white skin, an impressive bust that was seemingly completely bare, long, dark blue hair, bright amber eyes, and a long fish tail instead of legs. **"Technically you had me put him in the sphere."**

"Whoa!" IF shouted in shock, Blake staring in disbelief.

"So cool!" Nora cooed with interest.

 **"Hm?"**

"So who's the pretty fish lady?" Neptune asked bluntly.

With a smile, the woman answered, **"My name is Undine, I am the Great Spirit of Water."**

"Ookkaayy…?"

"You know how some cultures have gods and goddesses that rule over the fundamental laws of the universe?" Jude asked.

"Uuuhhh…" Neptune and Compa mumbled in unified bewilderment.

Jude sighed in mild annoyance. "… Like gods of the ocean and the sun? That kind of thing."

"Maybe…?" Neptune replied unsurely.

With a groan, Jude mumbled, "Talking to Teepo was easier."

"Who's Teepo?" Compa asked.

Jude held his hands up to demonstrate the height of the one he was talking about, very small, and explained, "A little, floating doll about this big controlled by a girl named Elize."

Undine added, **"And speaks the adorable child's deeper thoughts aloud."**

"Oh…"

Undine noticed Blake staring at her deep in thought. **"Something wrong?"**

"Nothing…" Blake answered weakly.

Jude raised a confused eyebrow but continued his explanation, "Anyway, Undine here is a being that can easily and freely manipulate water to a great extent. She could even cause a flood if she had enough mana."

Undine just nodded in silent agreement.

"Whoa…" Neptune mumbled, impressed.

"There's also Ifreet who controls fire, Sylph, who can manipulate wind, and Gnome, who has power over earth."

"Right…" Blake muttered, still transfixed by Undine.

Jude was about to speak once more, but the group was interrupted as a loud shriek filled the air.

 **"Uumm,"** Undine mumbled, **"what was that?"**

"Well that was loud…" Milla groaned as Undine vanished.

Suddenly, their vision was filled by the visage of a massive, jet black bird with a multi-eyed, skeletal head.

"Oh, go away!" Neptune grumbled. "I'm trying to enjoy a story here and you're ruining it you overgrown chicken! Go away, I'm too tired!"

Jude suddenly perked up as an idea filled his head. "Neptune, if you kill that thing I'll make you some pudding."

Neptune's eyes lit up brightly. "I'm on it! Time to get serious!" She was once again bathed in light; her larger form being revealed as the light died down. "You'll die for Ju-Ju pudding!"

As the fight began, Jude moved to a rock nearby and sat on it, leaning back slightly as he watched.

However, the beast suddenly stiffened before slumping to the ground.

"Eh…?"

Milla stood in front of the downed beast with her blade in its heart, her eyes alight as she drooled. "Does this mean I get the pudding instead, Jude?"

The others merely stared in awed disbelief.

"No fair!" Neptune argued, her deeper voice clashing with the childishness of the statement.

Milla smirked proudly. "First come first serve. All's fair when pudding is involved."

Neptune pouted in disappointment. "Well that stinks."

Jude suddenly put up a hand. "Wait, Neptune, don't turn back yet."

"Huh? Why?"

Jude then moved his attention to the rock he was sitting on. "So, are you coming out on your own or will I need to force you out?"

The figure hiding behind the rock stiffened before leaping out, enveloped in light.

The light died down to reveal a woman with long, hip-length, wavy white hair, fair skin, and blue-green eyes with the same symbols as Neptune's, wearing a bodysuit that was largely black with white accents, with detached sleeves and thigh-high boots, along with a gap that exposed a fair amount of her moderate bust, with small mechanical sections floating near her shoulders, waist, head, and feet, and large blue wings made of energy, smirking. "I'm impressed you noticed me."

Jude answered flatly, "It wasn't hard. I noticed you hiding behind a boulder when we were halfway here. You're giving off a lot of power. Plus, I saw your hair. It's a beautiful shade of silvery white. That, and I could smell your perfume. It's a nice, sweet scent. Reminds me of cinnamon a bit."

The white-haired woman raised a confused eyebrow, her face tinting slightly red. "Hmph, your flirtations will get you nowhere."

Jude furrowed his brow slightly. "I'm not flirting. I'm just telling the truth, Beautiful."

Compa tilted her head curiously and then turned to the enlarged Neptune. "Hey Nep-Nep, she looks kinda like you."

Neptune nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But shorter and white. Her outfit is also all blacky."

Jude narrowed his eyes as he noticed the same symbol in the white-haired woman's eyes as in the grown Neptune's. "I think there's more to it. Look at her eyes." He then nodded to himself in thought. "That makes a lot of sense…"

The white-haired woman hissed in annoyance as a large black and white sword appeared in her grasp. "Alright, that's enough, Purple Heart. I'm going to put an end to you for good."

Neptune tilted her head in confusion. "Who? My name's Neptune, lady."

Compa blinked in thought. "Wait, do you know Nep-Nep?"

"Nep-Nep?" the white-haired woman asked curiously.

Do you know who I am?!" Neptune asked excitedly.

"You mean you don't remember?"

Compa nodded. "Nep-Nep has amnesia."

The white-haired woman blinked and then laughed loudly. "Wow, how ironic! It'll almost make me feel bad for killing you."

Neptune frowned in bewilderment. "Huh? Killing me? For what?"

Jude snarled as he raised his fists. "Like I'll let you kill her!"

The woman huffed in irritation as she looked at Jude. "Stay out of the way human, this is a matter between Goddesses. Unless you want to die, don't get involved."

Neptune smirked confidently. "So you _do_ know me! Please, tell me!"

Furrowing her brown in annoyance, the woman then smirked. "Alright, I will. But I won't make it that easy. You need to beat me first."

"Then so be it!" Neptune challenged as she readied her sword. "I'll defeat you!"

Jude walked up next to Neptune, his fists raised to fight. "I'll help. There's no way I'm standing by and letting you fight her alone."

Huffing in derision, the white-haired woman snarled, "Hmph. So be it. You'll die for your trouble."

Jude then narrowed his eyes in thought before pulling something from his pocket and chucking it at the woman.

"What the…!?" she shouted, trying to bat it away, gaping when it turned out to be a pudding cup that smacked her square in the forehead.

"PUDDING!" Neptune shouted before tackling the strange woman to get the treat.

"Gah! Get… o – HEY! Don't touch me there!"

Jude sighed heavily as the two struggled before the woman managed to kick Neptune away.

"Get off!"

"Pudding…" Neptune pouted, the childishness of the act jarring with her outward maturity.

Jude turned his attention back to the woman. "You calm now Ms. Black Heart?"

Reacting to the name, she narrowed her eyes. "You are very irritating," she snarled before her sword appeared in her grasp.

Jude swiftly pulled more pudding cups from his coat. "I have more. And I'd rather just talk then be forced to fight you. Your blog made you out to be reasonable after all. Or was that just lies?"

Black merely huffed in annoyance. "This has nothing to do with you, human. It's a matter between Goddesses."

"Then talk it out. Not fight. No one would gain from it, especially out here."

Black folded her arms and pointed to the bewildered Neptune. "She needs to die, no talking required."

"No. You need to calm down and get your priorities straight." After a moment, he sighed heavily before walking up to her. "Alright, if you're that desperate, I'll make you talk. One-on-one. Me versus you, Black Heart."

Black merely huffed as she folded her arms. "I'd personally prefer not to kill a human if I don't have to."

"And I'd personally like to not smack some sense into you if I didn't have to. But you're going after an amnesiac who doesn't even know you."

Black frowned deeply. "You mean that was the truth?"

"Yes. Neptune over there doesn't even know who she herself is."

Black hissed as she bit one of her nails.

"Now will you stand down or do we have to fight?"

Her sword vanished as she floated slightly into the air. "… Tch. Killing you wouldn't even be worth it." However, as she attempted to fly away, Jude grabbed her by the arm, keeping her grounded. "Hey! Let go!"

Firm in his grasp, Jude shook his head. "No. We came to Vacuo for your help, and it looks like you need ours."

"I don't need anyone's help!" she shouted desperately, trying to shake him off. ' _How is his grip so strong!?_ '

"Dammit, listen!"

"H – Hey!" she grumbled as she fell to the ground before standing with a glare. "Alright, fine. You asked for this!" she shouted, summoning her sword, and then swung it, sending out a large blade of energy.

Jude seemingly vanished from sight, reappearing behind the woman, then grabbed her by the arm as she tried to fly away once more.

"Let go, dammit!" Black cursed.

In desperation, Jude looked for a solution and then noticed a glowing panel on the center of her back, slapping his hand onto it.

"H – Huh?" the white-haired woman muttered before she was enveloped in light.

The light died down to reveal a young woman with long, long, flowing black hair tied in twintails, kept in place by blue and black ribbons, dark red eyes, and fair skin, wearing a maid-like black top with gold trimmings that revealed a large amount of her fair bust, a black choker with a blue ribbon, black arm warmers with white frills, and thigh-high, dark blue boots with blue garters.

The young woman looked around in bewilderment. "… Eh…?"

"Whoa!" Neptune exclaimed in disbelief.

"Uuhh… what just happened?" Nora wondered.

Blake sighed and chided, "It's pretty obvious she just reverted."

Jude sighed before smirking. "I noticed that same panel on Neptune's back, and it glows every time she reverts. So I was wondering what would happen if I pushed it. Turns out it reverts you. Now you're not going anywhere, so stop it and sit."

"Why you…!" the black-haired woman snarled before feeling a metal sensation against the back of her head, quickly realizing what it was.

"That's enough," IF growled, holding her pistol against the ravenette's head. "You're weakened and surrounded."

Jude frowned with disapproval as he walked up to IF and a hand on her arm. "IF, that is not needed."

"It got her to stop struggling, didn't it?" she retorted with a dismissive shrug.

"Still, we need her help. A gun to the head isn't helping."

IF frowned before looking at the woman. "You promise not to run? If you do, I won't hesitate to shoot."

She stood silently before nodding slowly.

"Good," IF replied before lowering her weapon.

Jude sighed in relief before turning to her. "Now, why are you so intent on fighting? Fighting for the sake of fighting is a complete waste."

"Che, as if some mere human could understand. I'm fighting to win the Console War!"

Jude frowned in confusion. "War? What War?"

"Ugh, do I have to explain everything? The Console War is the war between the four Goddesses to become the True Goddess. The other three will die and the victor will gain the Shares of the entire planet and gain absolute power."

"And eternal loneliness, from the sound of it."

That seemed to get a rise out of her as she folded her arms. "A – As I said, mere humans can't understand."

"I understand you want to be greedy, forcing everyone to see you as the only Goddess here. Is that what you want? Followers that only follow you because you forced them to after killing the one they worshipped?"

She clenched her fingers as he spoke, remaining silent.

"Well?"

"It's unavoidable. It's my duty as a Goddess to win."

Milla challenged, "A Goddess' duty is to the prosperity of her people. Not to satisfy her own greed. And most certainly not force others to worship her. That's the mark of a cruel tyrant."

Snarling, the woman retorted, "The people manage their own prosperity just fine."

Jude growled and argued, "Have you even seen your own nation?!"

IF huffed in disbelief. "You are one out-of-touch chick."

Presa nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Your own priests disrespect you completely."

She hissed angrily. "Tch, the Basilicom is full of old fools. I don't even understand why they built that thing."

Milla narrowed her eyes angrily. "You are unfit to be a goddess."

Jude scowled with rage. "They built it for _you_! Though it's full of people that spit on your name and policies!"

She growled with insult at the two. "Silence! I won't be berated by the likes of you!"

"I see that you need taught a lesson," Milla threatened before Jude raised a hand in front of her.

"Milla, I'll handle this. I'll show her just how out of touch her views are."

"How about we break her legs?" Nora asked with excitement, raising her hammer.

"Nora, no," IF denied flatly, causing the orange-haired girl to pout.

"You were going to shoot her," Blake accused.

IF just shook her head, pulling back the slide on her pistol to show it empty. "No I wasn't. It wasn't even loaded."

"When'd ya do that?" Nora asked.

IF just looked at her with a deadpan expression. "If you used a normal gun, you'd know it's easy."

"Normal is boring…" Nora groaned, causing IF to sigh heavily.

The twin-tailed woman twitched an eyebrow at their back-and-forth before Jude approached her, his fists tensed as he urged, "I'd really rather avoid fighting, but if it will knock some sense and humility in to you I will."

She just chuckled in amusement. "A human? Beat me? Impossible."

"Then how about a bet, if you're so sure?"

"Oh?" she asked, an eyebrow cocked with intrigue.

"If I win you accept our help and stop wanting to kill your fellow Goddesses."

She nodded in return. "Fine by me. When I win, you'll become my servant!"

"Agreed," he answered firmly, causing Milla to frown subtly.

Nora noticed this, confused. "Ya okay, Milly?"

"Don't lose, Jude," Milla urged, to which Jude nodded silently.

His opponent drew her sword and entered a stance to fight.

"So you're staying in human form?"

"Well I don't want to kill you. A corpse wouldn't make a very good servant."

Jude frowned with frustration. "No. I want you to take this seriously. Otherwise you'll make excuses on your loss."

She merely hissed before she was engulfed in light, returning to her Black Heart form. "Don't blame me if you die."

"I won't, Black Heart."

Black responded by immediately charging at him with a wide slash that Jude ducked, before swinging his fist up at her gut, though Black shot into the air to avoid his strike.

However, before she could get very far, Jude grabbed her by the leg and swung her down with immense strength, the force creating a small crater in the ground.

"Gah!" she howled in pain.

"Nice try," Jude chastised before Black kicked at him, sending Jude skidding back a couple meters, Black standing up and sending blasts of energy at him.

Jude did his best to dodge the shots, several getting grazing hits, before raising one of his arms and placing his other hand on its wrist. "Sun Spark!" he shouted before a ball of light emerged from his palm and shot forward, Black striking it with her sword, causing it to explode in a violent burst, blinding her momentarily. "Demon Fist!" Jude shouted, taking advantage of her disorientation to send a wave of energy at her.

Black narrowly dodged the blast before Jude was suddenly in front of her.

"Cerberus Strike!"

Black widened her eyes in confusion, only to get struck in the abdomen twice with powerful punches before a powerful ax kick slammed her into the ground, knocking the wind out of her.

IF and the others lurched back slightly at the display, Presa commenting, "That looks painful."

Black growled and jumped to her feet, her armor beginning to crack in spots before she slammed her sword into the ground hard, sending a huge crescent of energy at Jude.

Jude leapt over the attack and slammed a fist into the ground. "Grave!" he shouted before a large spike of rock emerged from the ground and slammed into Black, almost impaling her.

Enraged, Black shot towards Jude, her sword raised.

"Coil!" he shouted before a sphere of flame surrounded him, Black's sword striking it and causing a small explosion that knocked her back.

"Wh – What the…?!"

"Demon Fist!" he shouted once more, the blast of energy narrowly missing Black, but distracting her long enough for Jude to get behind her. Taking advantage of the moment, Jude pinned her sword arm behind her, twisting her wrist such that she dropped her weapon, pinned her to the ground with his knee, and then hit the emblem on her back once more, deactivating her transformation and returning her to her human form. "You lose."

The human form Black stared up at him in disbelief before gritting her teeth. "… D – Dammit…!"

"You've lost, understand?"

She tried to break free of his hold and transform, but found her body too heavy and sluggish to respond. "Wh – What the…? Why can't…? I… I can't be out of energy already…"

Jude narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Stay down. It's over. Accept it."

"Dammit…" she growled, slumping her head against the ground. "… What _are_ you?"

"A doctor. Well that's my job. Now, you can accept your loss gracefully or I can injure you further to prove it. I'd rather not have to, personally, it'd be pointless and mar your beauty."

The pinned woman and everyone around just stared silently.

IF turned to Milla slowly. "… Does he do this a lot…?"

"Yes," the blonde answered simply.

The black-haired woman clenched her fists before her body relaxed. "… Fine. We'll call it a truce then."

Jude twitched an eyebrow at her unwillingness to accept defeat but sighed in resignation. "Whatever, just so long as you stop fighting. Now let's get you up and cleaned off."

She nodded slowly as he helped her to her feet, keeping her gaze from being directly to him.

"So maybe now we can talk this out," Milla remarked as Neptune reverted behind her as well.

"Fine…"

Jude nodded with a smile. "Maybe you can start by telling us your name."

"Huh? You know it already."

"No, Black Heart is your title. I want to know what your name is."

Her eyes widened slightly before she nodded. "… N – Noire. My name is Noire."

Jude returned her nod with a smile. "It's a pretty name."

Noire averted her gaze from him as her face began to heat up.

Milla then questioned, "So how about you let us in on why you're so focused on power instead of leading your people."

Folding her arms with a frown, Noire lowered her stare somberly. "My people don't need me. They've made that perfectly clear."

Jude frowned slightly in suspicion. "With the way your nation is, I find that doubtful."

Milla huffed lightly. "I can see why how your attitude is."

Growling, the woman retorted, "I'm not going to let you badmouth me like that! These damned humans are more faithful to that Avenir than me!"

Jude raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Avenir? How long ago did that happen?"

Noire frowned in slight irritation. "Don't you know anything? They're a technology company that sprang up a few years ago, and they've essentially taken the people's hearts. And if those humans are perfectly content giving their faith to slime balls like that, I've got more important things to do."

"Then why be out here and not cleaning out your home of scum?"

Noire tightened her fists as she explained, "Because Avenir bought off the entire Basilicom and replaced its occupants with their own stooges. Leaving me basically without any power." Gritting her teeth with increased anger, she continued, "As a result, the people now believe Avenir can fulfill all of their needs and that I'm not needed. And most of them are buying into it, despite the fact that I've led this nation to the best of my abilities for centuries. And it was relatively peaceful too…" Quietly, she mumbled, "I was even thinking of bring Uni down here too…"

Jude furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes.

Milla noticed Jude's expression and sighed. "I know that look."

"Huh?" Compa mumbled in confusion as she and Neptune approached, tentatively.

Milla folded her arms before turning to Jude. "Alright, so what's your plan?"

Jude nodded in appreciation. "We are going to help her win back the faith of her people. This Avenir group can't possibly be good for people like Chian either."

The black-haired woman blinked in confusion. "… Huh…?"

"Just nod and go with it," Milla insisted. "It will spare you the headache."

"Okay…?"

"Are you insane?" IF challenged. "She just tried to kill us!"

Jude argued, "If she was trying to kill us, her strikes would've targeted vital areas. She only tried out of misguided desperation to help her people. If we don't help her, her people will probably suffer more. And I can't stand by and do nothing if I have the power to do something."

Noire's eyes widened as he spoke.

Neptune grinned energetically. "Okie dokie! Time to stop Avedubdubduh!"

Blake sighed exasperatedly. "I don't even want to know how you mispronounced it that badly…"

Nora nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It's Avecado."

Blake just slapped a hand over her face and groaned.

"Wait…" Noire interjected. "Why?"

"Why what?" Jude asked, confused.

"You're going to stop Avenir. Why? It doesn't affect you."

Jude nodded in understanding and argued, "It affects you and your people. If I have the power to do something to help I won't stand by and do nothing."

"And like I said," Milla interject, "just nod and go with it. Once Jude's decided on something, even I can't stop him."

She looked at him confused for several moments before a small smile formed on her lips. "… Thank you… Avenir has been building factories across all of Vacuo. At this rate their machines will overtake all of the plant and animal life, which will attract more Grimm."

Milla narrowed her eyes angrily. "Which in turn hurts more than just that. It will kill off the Spirits."

Noire looked at her, confused. "… Spirits…? You mean like those really spicy drinks businessmen drink?"

"No," Jude interjected. "She is referring to the symbiotic mana-based species that aid us in casting Spirit Artes in exchange for mana."

"… Eh? Now I'm really confused."

"Okay… you know how the humans, and Faunus, of this world are able to use special powers called Semblance? That power is the same as Spirit Artes. Rather than doing it themselves, for a Semblance, they are giving up their magic energy, which you call Aura, to invisible beings called Spirits, who then perform the actions for you. But it all happens extremely quickly and they are invisible, so most people likely don't know about it."

Noire just stared at him with a blank expression, Neptune commenting, "I think ya lost her."

"Right… I keep forgetting this is a different world…"

With a grin, Neptune cheered, "Alright Nowa, let's go!"

Noire twitched an eyebrow and grumbled, "What did you call me!?"

"Nowa. It's yer nickname!"

"I like it!" Nora added.

"Why are you giving me a nickname?!"

"Simple Nowa! I'm the Main Character! It's my prerogative to do that!"

Nora tilted her head in thought. "I thought Judie was."

"No!"

Noire groaned in annoyance and turned to Jude. "Is she always like this?"

With a heavy sigh, Jude answered, "Yeah, pretty much… Ever since I met her while falling out of the sky."

"Hard to believe she's the same person."

"Obviously you only interacted with her in her Goddess form."

"Oh!" Neptune suddenly shouted. "That's right! You know who I am! So, uh… who am I…?"

Jude raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious Neptune?"

Noire answered, "Your true identity is Purple Heart, CPU of Planeptune."

"EEEHHH!?" Neptune, Compa, Nora, and Milla shouted in shock.

Jude laughed weakly in surprise. "I can't believe Milla didn't figure it out… Why are _you_ surprised…?"

" _I'm_ a CPU!?" Neptune asked, still in disbelief.

"It's not as shocking as meeting the Lord of Spirits and finding out it's a woman. I mean… it seemed kinda obvious."

Neptune then raised a hand. "Hey, I have a question."

"What now?" Noire asked, irritated.

"Is it 'what's a CPU'?" teased Blake.

"Whoa! Are you psychic?!" Neptune asked, shocked.

Almost everyone slapped a hand over their face in annoyance.

Jude sighed and explained, "They are the leaders of each of the four nations and are also goddesses."

Noire folded her arms. "Almost, but there's more to it. It means Console Patron Unit. In essence, we're the Goddesses that look over the humans of each land. Their faith in us, called Share Energy, gives us power. The more faith they have, the stronger we get. But conversely, the less followers we have, the weaker we become."

"That sounds quite a lot like a Tether…" Milla noted.

Jude nodded in agreement. "A massive one."

Noire continued, "Of course, this isn't merely a one-sided system. Most of the time, those who follow us will send us prayers, and then we act on them."

"… Eh?" Neptune muttered.

"What?"

"She's a lazy idiot, remember?" Presa remarked, causing Noire to groan heavily.

Jude blinked in thought and then smiled slightly. "That's why you were really here, wasn't it?"

"Huh?" Noire muttered.

"You originally came here to deal with the monster that was stopping your people from receiving goods they need."

Noire's cheeks turned slightly red as she folded her arms. "N – No I didn't. I came here to kill Neptune."

"Really? Then how did you know we would be here?"

"Goddesses aren't all knowing," Milla argued. "Neither are Spirits."

Noire's entire face was now light red as she argued weakly, "Sh – Shut up!"

"Tsun," Presa taunted.

Neptune grinned playfully. "Oh ho! Nowa's a Tsundere!"

"Shut it! And my name's Noire!"

"Yeah, Neptune," Jude added.

Milla raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's a Tsundere?"

"Leia," Jude answered bluntly.

"Ah. One who hides their true feelings with violent denial."

Noire growled lightly. "Would you shut up already?!"

"Why should I?"

IF sighed in annoyance. "Let's just get going…"

"Agreed," Blake groaned.

* * *

As the group neared the main city, Noire suddenly stopped. "Oh, wait!"

"For what?" Compa asked.

"What is it?" Presa asked, her arms folded under her bust in annoyance.

Noire mumbled, "I can't go into the city like this, the people will recognize me."

Jude folded his arms in thought. "True… We need to get you a disguise. Alter your hairstyle. Get you a different outfit. Maybe some glasses as well."

Noire furrowed her brow before Jude walked up to her, pulled the ties out of her hair, causing her long black hair to flow to her feet, and put a pair of red glasses on her.

"Perfect. There. Now you look different and still beautiful."

Noire stiffened as her face turned red. "D – Does it… really look good?"

"Of course. I don't think it's possible for you not to."

Her face turned intensely red.

"Ah, there you girls are," Chian remarked as she walked up to the group before seeing Noire.

Jude sighed in defeat. "Of course I'm forgotten…"

"Have I seen you before? Hhmm… no, I guess not."

"Am I that forgettable…?"

"So, did you kill that monster?"

Jude nodded, redirecting his thoughts to the matter at hand. "We did. It… was kinda weak actually."

"And still no pudding…" Milla moaned.

"Oh…" Chian muttered, slightly dismayed, before her usual smile took its place, "well, thanks. You girls helped a lot." Chian then noticed Jude's grimace and patted his shoulder with a smirk. "Come on, stop sulking, I'm just havin' some fun."

"Right…"

"Aw… does Judie need some booby time?" Neptune teased.

"No, I'm good," he answered bluntly, causing Neptune to pout. Turning to Chian he added, "If you need anything else just ask. We'd be happy to assist."

Chian's fist tightened slightly. "Nah, that's about all you guys can help with."

"Are you sure?" Jude asked before the group was distracted by a large explosion.

Chian tried to keep her expression placid. "… Yes?"

"What was that?" Milla asked.

Chian groaned, putting a hand over her face in frustration. "That was my newest invention exploding. Again. And I was sure I turned off the power, too…"

"Need any help working on it?" Jude wondered.

Chian waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, I got it."

"You sure? I could help," Jude insisted.

Chian folded her arms. "And just how much do you know about thermodynamics or mechanical engineering?"

Jude remained silent, not having an answer.

"That's what I thought." With an appreciative smile, Chian added, "I appreciate the offer, but if I'm going to beat those Avenir bastards at the expo I need to do this myself."

Noire raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh?"

Chian flinched lightly. "Ah, forget I said anything."

Jude questioned, "You want to stop them too, huh?"

Chian stiffened before sighing heavily. "Yeah…"

"Then let us help."

"I can't let you do that," Chian argued.

"Why not?" Noire asked, confused.

Tightening a fist, Chian answered, "Because this is personal."

Jude folded his arms in thought. "What do you mean?"

Chian sighed heavily. "This place isn't actually run by my parents. Well, not both of them. It's just my mother. My father created Passé, and we were pretty much the biggest supplier of machinery to this area of Vacuo. We supplied everything from kitchenware to weapons. But then Avenir showed up and bought up all of the shippers, the suppliers, and customers. My father refused to sell Passé to those rats. But then one day… he died in an accident."

"That sounds too coincidental to me," Presa noted suspiciously.

Blake nodded in agreement. "Accident, or murder?"

Chian continued, "After he died, I took over Passé and worked with Chèvre, a childhood friend of mine. However, business got so bad and so slow, that… that I had to shut the factory down. I worked with Chèvre in his shop for a few years, but I decided to come back and reopen the factory. Every year the Lastation Basilicom holds the Technology Expo. The winner of the Expo not only gets a huge cash reward, but they also get the chance to meet with Lady Black Heart. If I can just meet her I can maybe get these bastards out. Not only have they stolen the jobs from any other factories in the nation, they're building factories everywhere. Vacuo's pollution is already bad enough. If it keeps up like this, I'm not sure if any people will be able to live here at all."

Jude glanced at Noire slightly. "I see…"

Noire shook her head subtly in response.

"Look," Chian added, "I appreciate your desire to help, but there really isn't much you can do."

Neptune huffed in annoyance. "Come on! There's gotta be something!"

"Not even testing the weapon?" Jude offered.

"Do any of you know how to pilot a mech?"

"A what?"

"Exactly."

Jude hummed in thought. "Hhmm… What if we try to take down Avenir?"

Chian huffed dismissively. "Good luck. They're a massive company, with millions of Lien, and what's more, they've got the damn Basilicom in their pockets."

Presa folded her arms in thought. "There's no way to discredit them? Funnel away all their money out of their hands? Assassinate their CEO?"

Blake stared at the woman nervously as Chian raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Their CEO? He's always got himself surrounded by guards, plus he isn't exactly a slouch in combat himself. People have tried assassinating him before, but he usually just ends up paying the assassin double to kill their original contractor. And they don't keep all their funds in one place. They've got them dispersed in all the different lands."

"Every kingdom?" IF questioned.

"I doubt they have any in Menagerie," Blake commented.

"You've really done your research," IF remarked, impressed.

Chian nodded in response. "Yeah. I want to take these jerks down, bad. But they're almost impenetrable. So the only thing I can see working is to outdo them at the expo."

* * *

 **And there you have it, the second chapter! Hopefully everyone enjoyed it, be sure to leave a review if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or simply have questions on anything, such as what series a certain character is from, leave a review with your concerns and I will do what I can to address them. Except spoilers, I have to keep those out of the reviewer responses, so you will get a better result on that with a PM. If you did not enjoy the chapter, review if you must, though I would recommend doing something you enjoy instead. Nothing else to add here, so bye-bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

 **Greetings all my readers! I have returned with another chapter! Hopefully the wait until now has not been too long. I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter, at least some of you did it would seem. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, so be sure to leave a review letting me know if you did. That said, I would like to thank Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with the story so far and into the future, so on with the reviewer responses!**

 **Travis Moon: I see another long review by you, so I don't think there's a problem. And don't worry, I know Neptune isn't for everyone.**

 **I don't remember him having a dragon inside of him, that may have been just part of the insanity of the original. So, short answer, no.**

 **Go ahead and rant, like I said, Neptune isn't for everyone. Personally I adore the little idiot, but some people don't.**

 **Get it out of your system?**

 **Fortitude: I know of it, never played it though. And I know about the story, somewhat.**

 **Well I don't know if I'll use it for anything any time soon, but after I get a chance to play it, we'll see.**

 **I know.**

 **Not a whole lot to respond to, but enough. So, on with the show!**

* * *

Jude and the others stood in Chian's café, talking with her about Avenir.

Chian nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. I want to take these jerks down, bad. But they're almost impenetrable. So the only thing I can see working is to outdo them at the expo."

Presa noted, "Or infiltrate their organization, gather information from within, then get close enough to stab him in the back or blow up his headquarters."

The others just stared in disbelief at her.

Presa looked at them rather confused. "What? Just listing off ideas."

"Glad she isn't part of the White Fang…" Blake mumbled quietly to one side.

Jude rubbed the back of his head as he laughed weakly. "I don't really know how possible that is… maybe we should just stick with the Expo."

Noire sighed and rebutted, "I can tell you already that that's pointless."

Presa argued, "If he comes out during the event, we can take him out while it's open. Especially if Chian's device is a weapon."

Chian twitched an eyebrow at her recommendation. "And make myself look like a murderer on international television?"

Presa merely shrugged. "Who says you'll be the one to use it? You said yourself it's a mech right?"

"Like any of you know how to use one?"

Jude retorted, "No, but that doesn't stop us from learning to."

Chian frowned regretfully. "I don't want you guys making yourselves criminals just to help me."

Blake frowned and clenched her fists.

Jude, seeing this, grabbed her by the hand and led her away from the others, quietly snapping, "I can already tell what you're planning."

Blake frowned with frustration. "Unlike the rest of you, I'm _already_ a criminal."

Jude shook his head firmly. "Not anymore, and I won't let you publicly become one. You have a new chance at life and I'm not going to let you throw it away."

Blake's bow drooped as her ears lowered, a frown on her lips.

Jude continued, "If anyone's going to put themselves in danger, I will. I don't want the rest of you to get hurt."

Neptune saw the two talking and walked over with a mischievous grin. "What'cha whisperin' about over there?"

"Nothing important," Jude retorted.

"Wantin' to get all lovey-dovey?"

Blake's face immediately turned bright red. "H – Huh?!"

"Neptune, stop it!" Jude shot back.

Neptune just folded her arms with a smirk. "Stop what, Harem Builder?"

"What?"

"What, what?"

Noire sighed heavily and turned to Chian. "Well as much as I'd like to argue, their idea may be your only option."

Chian frowned deeply.

"You said yourself that Avenir has the Basilicom in their pocket. And if that's true, then the Basilicom would _always_ choose Avenir as the winner. My guess is that Avenir uses this expo to see which inventors or smaller companies pose the greatest threat."

Chian's shoulders dropped in defeat. "Does that mean… even Lady Black Heart has no power here…?"

Noire flinched somewhat before putting a hand over her chest and tightening her fist, before shaking her head. "… No, I'm sure if you tell her, she'll do everything she can to help."

Chian looked up at the raven-haired woman in suspicious optimism. "R - Really…? But, how can I meet her when…?"

Noire furrowed her brow before reply firmly, "… If you pray strongly enough, I'm sure your thoughts will reach her. No, I'm certain of it."

Chian's eyes widened before she nodded with a bright smile. "R – Right!"

Jude just smiled as Noire walked away from the blue-haired woman and rejoined the rest.

"So what now?" Nora asked.

Jude narrowed his eyes, folding his arms before putting his right hand against his temple in thought.

Milla saw this and insisted, "Let's hear it, Jude."

After a moment of silence, Jude suggested, "What if we start working for Avenir?"

"Huh?!" the others shouted in disbelief.

IF blinked in thought. "That's actually pretty brilliant."

"How is it brilliant?!" Neptune argued adamantly. "Why would we want to work for the bad guys?!"

"To fool them," Jude argued.

Nodding, IF added "If we can start working jobs for Avenir, we might be able to get information from the inside."

"As well as use their own money against them," Presa noted as well.

Nodding in agreement, Jude added, "It'll take a while, but we might get some info that would allow us to bring them down."

"Right…" Neptune replied suspiciously.

Jude sighed and added, "We'll use some of their own money to buy pudding."

"Okay!" Neptune and Milla cheered.

Blake chuckled before sighing. "Way too easy…"

"I don't like this…" Nora noted with frustration.

IF shrugged. "It's standard spying procedure."

Jude nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and if we can learn any of their secrets, they might be enough to topple them. Though… it'd probably be best if a few of us stayed here just in case."

"Right."

"But who?" Blake asked.

Jude looked around the room in thought. "Milla, Presa, you two stay here."

"Why us?" Milla asked, confused and mildly annoyed.

"You're our strongest. You could easily repel anything Avenir could throw at her. If this group is as sinister as Chian says, I'm not taking any chances."

Milla narrowed her eyes and then sighed in resignation. "Alright."

Neptune grinned happily. "Ah, don't worry, Milly! He's with me! He'll be fine! I _am_ the main character after all!"

"I thought that was Judie," Nora noted.

"No!" Neptune shouted back, almost angry.

Noire huffed lightly in argument. "Please. If anyone is main character worthy, it's him." She accentuated her point by motioning to Jude.

Jude blinked in confusion. "M – Me…? Not really…"

Milla interjected, "No, according to Teepo he is the damsel in distress. Though I am uncertain what that term means."

"H – Huh?!"

"… Seriously?" Blake asked in disbelief.

"What?"

"I don't know exactly what I'd call it, but Jude's definitely not that…"

Jude sighed heavily in mild relief. "Thank you…"

Presa sighed in discomfort as she rubbed the side of her head.

"You okay, Presa?" Compa asked.

"Yeah, somethin' up, Presy?" Nora added.

"No," Presa answered simply, "just a headache."

Compa nodded in understanding. "I see. Let me get some bandages for you."

Jude grabbed Compa's hand. "Let's go before you turn Presa into a mummy."

Nora tilted her head in thought. "… Um, pretty sure _you're_ the only one who can make her a mommy."

"Huh?" Jude hummed, looking at her in bewilderment.

"Well you're a man, she's a woman. All you need is a bedroom and you can make a baby."

Jude's face instantly turned red. "Mummy! _Mummy_! A zombie wrapped in bandages!"

Presa stared off into space as her tail swayed briskly. "Me… a mother…"

Neptune stiffened in shock. "Uh-oh, I think someone has baby rabies."

"What?" Milla asked, confused.

Jude sighed heavily. "Let's just go…"

* * *

The group made their way to the local Guild and looked around the quests.

"Let's look for any quests from Avenir," Jude urged.

"Okay," Neptune answered weakly. "Still not liking this…"

"Avenir-bought pudding."

"Right!"

"Too easy…" Blake remarked quietly.

"I got one!" IF exclaimed as she pointed at the quest panel.

Nora patted the girl on the back. "Way to go Iffy! Your money hunting eyes found us one!"

IF just stared at her in mild annoyance.

Jude nodded in return. "Great. Let's take it."

"Right! Avenir pudding!" Neptune cheered.

* * *

The group made their way to the edge of a small forest and looked around in thought, seeing a small building nearby.

"This should be where we meet with the client," Jude noted.

Noire nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Let's head in."

"That won't be necessary," a new voice interjected.

The group turned and saw two figures approaching.

The first was a young man with messy brown hair and brown eyes, wearing frameless glasses and purple suit with black accents and a green tie.

The second was an older, heavyset man with slicked back black hair and grey eyes wearing a red suit with a blue tie.

"You're later than I expected," the brown-haired man noted.

"Huh?" Compa remarked in confusion as she looked at the two.

The older man folded his arms in annoyance. "I told you we should've just sent our machines to handle this mess."

Jude narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

The brown-haired man waved a hand lightly. "Now, now Singe, no need to be cross." Redirecting his attention to Jude's group, the man added, "My name is Ganache, a business partner of Singe within Avenir. I assume you're the group who will take on this mission?"

Jude nodded in response. "Yes, we are."

Ganache nodded in return. "Good to hear. I presume that this mission should be simple enough for even you to accomplish."

Neptune twitched an eyebrow, irritated.

' _Really not liking this guy…_ ' Jude grumbled.

"There's a monster nearby that's preventing us from building. We'd like you to take care of it."

Blake raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Don't you mean a Grimm?"

Ganache adjusted his glasses with a small chuckle. "Ah, yes, my mistake. Though they're all monsters at the end of the day."

Blake narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"We'll get right on it," Jude insisted.

"Glad to hear it." Ganache shot a glance at Noire before he and Singe left.

"I don't like him. At all," Blake growled.

Noire raised an eyebrow before turning to the others. "Let's get going."

* * *

The group walked through the forest for several minutes, looking around for the creature in question.

After a while, Jude stopped and twitched an eyebrow. "Hey… they didn't say what the Grimm looks like."

The others all stopped as well and slumped their shoulders in defeat.

"Great…" Noire groaned heavily.

"Probably something big and dangerous," IF remarked.

Compa glanced to the side and asked, "Erm… are those the monsters?" She pointed to a large group of small, jelly-like creatures with dog ears and muzzles.

Jude furrowed his brow in thought. "I… don't think so. They look kinda cute and harmless. Let's just try and get around them"

Blake gaped and immediately put distance between herself and the others. "Nope! Nope, nope, nope, so much nope!"

Jude just laughed weakly at her response.

"Right," Neptune agreed as the group continued through the forest, giving the strange creatures a wide birth.

Looking at the creatures in thought, Jude wondered, "So what are these dog-like gel things?"

"They're called Dogoos," IF explained. "They're mostly harmless, but if they smell food they'll start burrowing anywhere they can fit."

"I see." Jude then glanced to the side and gaped. "Neptune don't open that pudding!"

As the sound of a ripping seal filled the air, Neptune turned to him curiously. "Huh? Why not? I'm hungry."

Blake acted instantly and took the cup from her and tossed it a great distance away, several of the Dogoos chasing after it.

"My pudding…!" the girl cried.

Blake turned to the purple-haired girl with annoyance. "Are you insane!?" After a moment of thought, she groaned. "… Don't answer that. Point is, don't open food around those things!"

"Aw…" she pouted before pulling out several more cups. "But Judie gave me this many…"

"Crap…" Jude muttered before hissing. "Run!"

One of the Dogoos then leapt at Neptune as the group turned to run, knocking her to the ground and causing her pudding to spill.

"Uwah!" Neptune exclaimed. "Someone save me and the pudding!"

The Dogoos then began crawling on the downed girl, searching for more pudding as several others crowded around the one she opened and began eating it.

Nora grinned and pulled out the large hammer on her back that shifted and morphed into a large, pink and grey grenade launcher. "Eat this!" she shouted as she fired a large projectile at the beast, killing it with a massive explosion.

Almost immediately all of the other Dogoos turned to her.

"Ah crap…" IF cursed.

"Hey get off her!" Jude shouted as he punched one of the small monsters off of Neptune, sending it flying.

"Uwah!" Neptune shrieked again as one of the Dogoos melted and slipped into the collar of her hoodie. "Hey, don't go in my hoody, that tickles!"

"Nep-Nep!" Compa shouted in concern.

Jude tried to knock another of the Dogoos off of Neptune but many more piled on him, pinning him to the ground.

Compa ran to help the others, tripping on another Dogoo, causing her to fall to the ground as more of them crowded around her. "Eek! No! Bad Mr. Dogoo!"

"Oh brother…" IF groaned in irritation. She then noticed a bulge in Blake's pocket as the girl backed into her. "Wait… is that…?" Taking action, the brunette pulled the object out, several cans of tuna, opened them, and scattered the contents around the area, the Dogoos swiftly changing their focus.

"My tuna!" Blake cried out as the beasts ran off.

Unfortunately, not all of them left.

Compa shivered as one of the creatures began crawling up her leg. "H – Hey! Stay out of my skirt!"

IF narrowed her eyes in frustration. "I guess I need to help them too…" She then flicked her wrists, causing her arm-mounted blades to emerge from her sleeves.

Neptune laughed loudly as the Dogoos began licking her skin. "That tickles!"

Compa frowned and smashed one of the Dogoos, groaning as it turned to mush in her hand. "Eeww…"

IF ran up to Compa and began slashing at the Dogoos, swiftly removing them from Compa. However, as she continued, she noticed the goop from the Dogoos building up on her blades, weighing them down. "Ggrr… stupid things!" She attempted to shake the goop off but was knocked to the ground when another Dogoo tackled her. "Neptune! I blame you for this!"

Noire slapped a hand over her face in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding." She glanced to the side as a single Dogoo crawled towards her. Flattening her brow angrily, she hissed, "Piss off."

The Dogoo looked at her momentarily and then turned around, walking away.

"Ah!" IF exclaimed as one of the monsters licked her underarm. "Don't lick me there you damn things!"

"Noire! Help!" Jude begged.

Noire sighed heavily and raised a hand. "Fine."

Suddenly, the entire area was filled with an immense conflagration, completely destroying all of the Dogoos in an instant.

Jude sighed in relief before turning to Noire. "Thanks, Noire."

Noire blinked in disbelief. "Th – That wasn't me."

Jude raised an eyebrow as he stood. "Huh? Then who?"

"So you have trouble against mere Dogoos, hm?" a new voice asked.

The group all turned and saw a girl with long, straight, waist-length blue hair, matching blue eyes, and a beauty mark just below her left eye wearing a tall, black hat with several grey rings on it, a black blouse with a white collar and red tie, a matching black, pleated skirt, underneath a long, white overcoat with black trim, thigh-high, dark grey stockings, and short, black, high-heeled boots.

"Huh?" Jude muttered in confusion as he looked at the girl. "… Somewhat," he answered reluctantly.

"I am the one who destroyed those beasts," she explained.

Blake hissed in disgust. "That's giving those things too much credit, calling them beasts… They're little pests, and how anyone can keep one as a pet is beyond me…"

Jude nodded with an appreciative smile. "I see. Thank you, Miss…"

"It's MAGES.."

Nora nodded with a salute. "Right MAGY.."

Neptune grinned happily. "Yeah, thanks, Mages!"

MAGES. shook her head in response. "No, it's MAGES., with a period."

Neptune blinked in confusion. "Uh, okay… That doesn't make verbal sense but whatever."

"Really?" Nora wondered.

MAGES. changed the direction of the conversation. "That aside, have any of you seen any Doc P here?"

Neptune tilted her head curiously. "Doc P?"

"Doc Tear Popper. It's a drink for the Chosen One."

IF shrugged in response. "Never heard of it."

Jude opened a drink with a sigh as the others spoke, looking around with confusion as everyone stared at him. "What? Why are you all looking at me?"

Neptune shrieked. "Uwah! Gimme! I'm supposed to be the main character!"

Jude pushed her away as she tried to grab his drink. "Hey! It's mine! I bought it!"

MAGES. narrowed her eyes curiously. "I see, so the Organization hasn't spread this far yet."

"The what?" Noire questioned.

"The Organization."

"And they are…?" IF asked open-ended.

"They are –" MAGES. began but stopped when her Scroll rang. "Hold on a moment." She then pulled out her phone and answered the call. "Hello? What?! Damn. Okay. Yes, I understand. Loohcs tneve emag noitamina cisum."

Jude folded his arms in confusion. "Huh?"

"Wha…?" Nora muttered in befuddlement.

MAGES. sighed as she put away her phone. "Sorry, but I have to go."

"Wait!" Neptune suddenly yelled.

"For what?"

"Have you seen any really huge monsters around here?"

"Don't you mean a Grimm?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"No. All I've seen is a Beast nearby in its den."

Compa looked at her, puzzled. "A Beast…?"

"You don't know?"

Noire retorted, "She wouldn't have asked if she did."

MAGES. twitched an eyebrow at the black-haired girl. "Alright, alright. Beasts are one of the few creatures besides humans and Faunus that have souls. Some can even kill Grimm. And those that do, Grimm tend to avoid like the plague. Like that Rathian."

Noire went white as a ghost. "… Oh hell no."

Jude looked at her in surprise. "I'm guessing that's bad?"

Blake growled angrily. "I knew this job was suspicious. Going after a _Rathian_ of all things?"

"Just freakin' great…" IF cursed.

Compa, Neptune, and Jude looked between each other in confusion.

Neptune was the first to speak up. "Yoo-hoo, the clueless brigade over here. What are ya talking about?"

Blake sighed heavily. "Something that will get us all killed."

Jude frowned deeply. "… I'm going to assume this Rathian thing is what's stopping Avenir from building?"

"And most likely keeping the Grimm population either away entirely or low."

"Really?"

"Yes. Rathians are one of the few Beasts that are larger than almost any Grimm and thus eat them almost exclusively. Their hide is thick enough that most attacks are useless and their tails have a potent poison that could take down a giant Nevermore."

IF added, "Not to mention that they breathe fire. Just hope to Green Heart it isn't nesting."

"Um… can we go home now?" Compa questioned. "This thing sounds scary…" she worried in a quiet voice.

Suddenly, Nora walked towards the group holding a large egg. "Hey guys, look what I found!"

The others just stared at her.

"What?"

The group turned to the nearby cave when a massively loud, enraged howl emerged from within.

Noire gulped in worry. "Hey, think you can – where'd MAGES. go?!"

"She ran away fast…" Neptune remarked.

Jude then looked at his now empty right hand. "Um… where'd my drink go?"

Suddenly, a massive, winged, reptilian beast with bright, pink and red scales emerged, releasing a powerful roar as it ran at the group.

Blake's eyes went wide in horror. "Oh no… it's a _pink_ one…!?"

Jude just looked at her. "… Is that bad…?"

IF answered weakly, "Oh you have _no_ idea…"

"So we run?"

"Ahem," Neptune interjected before transforming into her Goddess form. "Have you forgotten you two Go – where's Noire?"

"Fast…" Compa exclaimed quietly.

Purple turned to the beast with a smirk. "Huh… oh well, we can take it!" she declared before charging, only for the Rathian's wing to send her flying over the group and into a tree.

Jude looked at the downed Purple, who reverted to her normal form, and then to the others. "… We run."

Nodding in agreement, the others followed Jude and ran away from the beast, Nora still firmly holding the egg.

Seeing that, IF shouted, "Nora! Get rid of that thing! It's why she's pissed!"

"No!" Nora shouted back. "It's my future breakfast!"

Noire, running next to the others by now, argued, "We're going to be _her_ breakfast if you don't get rid of it!"

Blake looked at the twin-tailed girl in surprise. "Huh. We managed to catch up with her."

The Rathian roared once more as it charged after the group before slowing to a stop.

"Um… why did she stop…?" Compa wondered.

As if answering her query, the Rathian flared out her wings widely.

"What the…?" Jude muttered before the monster flapped its wings firmly and took off into the air, chasing after them.

"Duck and cover!" IF ordered.

The group all scattered as the Rathian dove towards Nora, still holding the creature's egg.

Nora tossed the egg into the air at Jude. "Judie, catch!"

"Hu –?" Jude wondered as he managed to grab it. "… Nora why?!"

The Rathian stopped its dive and howled, jumping back into the air at Jude.

The teen gulped before turning away from the girls and running at high speed, the Rathian chasing after him.

"Uuhh…" Neptune mumbled as they watched the Rathian swoop down and catch Jude before flying off with him.

"Just great…" IF groaned.

Blake's jaw fell in surprise. "Guess Milla _was_ right about that damsel in distress bit…"

"Shouldn't we go save him?" Compa wondered.

"Probably," IF replied.

* * *

Jude held the egg tightly in his arms as the Rathian carried him back to the cave. ' _Can this get any worse…?_ ' After a moment, he blinked in defeat. "… Why did I think that…?"

The Rathian quickly landed and dropped Jude, who immediately tried to run away, only to be stopped when a massive, black bear with stark white, bony protrusions all over its body stumbled into the cave, roaring and obviously malnourished. It growled as it saw Jude.

' _Crap!_ ' Jude barely managed to roll to the side, keeping the egg safe, dodging its clawed arm. "Oh come on!"

Seeing the Rathian, the giant bear changed its target.

Eyeing his chance, Jude stood up and began to run as the two creatures fought.

The bear charged before the Rathian fired a blast of flame, hitting the monster and knocking it back. The Grimm just growled before resuming its charge, taking a swipe at the Rathian.

The Rathian dodged the swing and whipped its tail at the Grimm, slamming it into the side of the cave.

Jude stopped when he saw several pebbles fall in front of him and realized their battle was collapsing the cave. He continued running before seeing a large fissure that seemed to extend the length of the cave. Holstering the egg firmly in his left arm, Jude raised his right as a ball of light began to form. "Sun Spark!" he called out before the ball of light shot like a cannon and slammed into the crack, exploding on impact and collapsing the cave.

Immediately the cave's ceiling began falling and collapsing, burying both the Grimm and the Beast beneath giant boulders.

Jude dove ahead as the cave collapsed, barely escaping the debris, the egg still intact. "That… was too close…" he groaned before standing up. He quickly realized the egg was unharmed. "Huh… guess I get to keep it…? Now… to find everyone else…"

"We're coming Judie!" Neptune cheered as she charged towards the cave with the others.

"Oh. There they are."

Neptune looked at him in surprise. "Wait, you're okay…?"

"Yeah," Jude commented before turning to the collapsed cave. "Not so sure about the Rathian…"

The others just stared in silence.

"Oh well…"

Nora looked at him in excitement. "Yay! You saved my breakfast!"

Jude frowned in response. "Blake, whack her."

Blake responded by smacking her upside the head.

"Owie!" the orange-haired girl shrieked.

"We are not eating this egg."

"Aw… why not?"

"I'm going to hatch it."

The others gaped in disbelief. "Hah!?"

"What?"

"Why?!" Noire demanded.

Jude frowned somewhat as he looked at the egg. "Well, we did just make it an orphan. Also, where I'm from, there are people that can tame monsters and I've always been curious about the art and wanted to give it a try."

"… I can't decide if that's extremely brave or extremely stupid," Blake noted.

"I'm a doctor. Being brave is required for the field."

Noire looked at him in surprise. "… You're a doctor?"

"Yes. Why?"

"… How old _are_ you?"

Jude tilted his head in slight curiosity. "Fifteen. I'll turn sixteen in a couple months."

Noire just stared at him in shock.

"… Noire?"

"… Are you some kind of genius?"

Jude stiffened as his face turned red. "Huh? No, I'm nowhere near a genius."

"Then how are you a doctor that young…?"

Jude frowned in confusion. "Is it really that special…?"

"Yes!" everyone shouted.

"Loud…" he recoiled.

Noire sighed heavily. "Let's just go report this…"

The group then turned as they heard clapping and watched Ganache and Singe walk towards them.

"No need, we witnessed its defeat," Ganache interjected.

Blake twitched an eyebrow as they approached.

"Wonderful work everyone. Now we can build a new plant here safely."

"New… plant…"

"Yes, that is what I said."

"Why another one?"

"More factories means more production means more profit."

Singe huffed in irritation. "Hrmph, they took too long. Plus, look at this mess they left behind."

Jude frowned incredulously.

Ganache waved a hand disarmingly. "Don't worry my friend, it will be fine."

Compa sighed with fatigue. "Phew, all that running made me tired."

"Then we'll take a break," Jude suggested as he patted her back.

"Not here," Singe argued gruffly, "we're going to start construction immediately, so you brats need to leave."

Neptune twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

Jude frowned before nodding. "… Fine." ' _I wonder if there are any Grimm nearby._ '

Folding his arms in irritation, Singe grumbled, "Who's bright idea was it to hire children for something like this anyway?"

"Children?" Jude asked with irritation at Singe's continued insults.

IF snarled and shouted back, "Do you even know what the hell you had us fighting, you maniac?!"

Singe scowled at the girl. "If you don't watch that tongue of yours, that beast will be the least of your worries."

Compa stepped between them, angry. Though in her case it was hardly threatening. "Hey! Don't bully Iffy! And we're not children, I'm seventeen!"

Singe huffed and retorted, "Yes, you are. You're nothing more than kids pretending to be adults."

"But I –" Compa began to argue, only to be cut off.

"Why are people like you even doing this kind of work?"

"But –" she fruitlessly tried once more to rebut him.

"Okay, that's enough!" Jude suddenly shouted, stomping up the man with rage in his eyes.

Singe just looked at him, irritated. "Oh? Another child wishes to spout off?"

"Yes. First, we're not children. Second, you're insane!"

Compa raised her hands towards Jude weakly, concerned.

"We were expecting to fight a Grimm, not _that_!"

Ganache merely shrugged. "I told you it was a Monster.'

Singe groaned angrily. "It will be much better once we get these factories going and replace most of this human labor with machines. They don't make mistakes, they never get tired, and most of all, they don't complain!"

"You jackass!" Jude shouted in uncharacteristic rage.

"Watch your tongue, brat!"

"No! Your idea is just insane! Replacing human workers with unthinking machines? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Compa again timidly reached out to him. "J – Ju-Ju…"

Singe merely huffed at Jude's challenge. "You should watch your mouth, boy. And for your information, nothing. Humans are simply inadequate workers. They have limits. Machines do not. One day Avenir will replace all manual labor with machines. They will be more efficient, work perfectly, not get sick, won't need time off, and will work twenty-four/seven."

Jude growled and shot back, "Machines lack so many things that make them a horrible choice to rely on! And if you do succeed, _no one_ will benefit! You might as well put a gun to people like Chian's head and pull the trigger!"

"All of society will benefit."

"By starving them? By making them unable to afford basic needs? Their own homes?"

"It will make all goods cheaper to produce and cheaper to acquire."

"You wish. Corporations will just up the prices to pay for 'machine maintenance'."

Compa suddenly reached out and pulled Jude away by the arm. "Please stop yelling! I'm sorry…!"

Jude frowned sadly to Compa before patting her head and turning to Ganache and Singe.

"L – Let's get going…" Blake urged.

Ganache nodded as he adjusted his glasses. "Yes, I agree, I believe that's enough of this admittedly thrilling debate."

"Yes, sir," Singe answered plainly.

Blake blinked in confusion. "Sir?"

"Ah, yes. You see, I may have fibbed just a little," Ganache remarked. "I am Ganache Schnee, founder and CEO of Avenir Industries."

The black-haired woman's amber eyes went wide with a combination of fear and anger as he spoke, before she growled reflexively at him.

Ganache huffed with a smirk as he looked at her. "Now, now, no need to growl like some animal."

IF grabbed both Blake and Jude by the arms, leading them away. "If you'll just excuse us, we'll be going."

Jude narrowed his eyes as they walked away from the two. ' _This guy… needs to be dealt with. He reminds me too much of Gilland._ '

* * *

"Well, how'd it go?" Chian asked as Jude and the others returned, before noticing the fuming expressions on Jude and Blake's faces. "… Not well I take it…"

"Pink. Rathian," Noire answered bluntly.

"S – Seriously!?" the woman shouted in disbelief.

Nora nodded with excitement. "Yep! Judie even got one of her eggs!"

Chian looked at the large egg Jude was holding in thought. "Um… that's not a Rath egg."

"… Eh?" the group gaped in confusion.

"I'm no expert Hunter, but I'm pretty sure that's a Magala egg."

"A what?" Jude asked, looking at it.

"Magala. I don't know much about them, only what I've heard in legends."

IF gaped before rubbing her head in exasperation. "Just great… Why couldn't it have just been a Rath Egg…?"

"What's a Magmar?" Neptune asked.

"They said Magala," Jude corrected.

"A calamity," IF answered bluntly, causing Jude to frown in concern. "Our home had a number of legends about those things too. They say even the infant, called a Gore Magala, is a force to be reckoned with, and that the adult, Shagaru Magala, can destroy entire nations."

"What?" Milla asked in surprise.

Chian nodded in agreement. "Yeah. The Grimm aren't the only dangers in this world. There are also the Monsters. The vast majority of them can be taken out by a skilled Hunter. But some require entire armies to have a chance."

IF added, "And Elder Dragons are the biggest of the bad. Though there are major advantages of living near areas where they live though."

"Like…?" Jude questioned.

Chian answered, "The home of an Elder Dragon is almost devoid of Grimm. To my knowledge, only some of the oldest and most powerful Grimm can even hurt them. The good thing is most Elder Dragons are somewhat docile. Somewhat. If humans and Faunus can leave them alone, they're perfectly content to sit in their dens and eat the occasional Grimm that's dumb enough to get close."

"But there are also Elder Dragons that are huge in size and cause damage just by existing, even if they don't mean to, and others that can cause calamities due to have true foul intent. The Shagaru Magala is one of the latter."

Nora blinked in excitement. "… Does that me –?"

"No, you can't eat it," Jude cut her off.

Chian frowned in mild confusion. "What else would you do with it?"

"Try to raise and tame it."

Chian looked at him in shocked disbelief.

IF sighed heavily. "Yeah. He's a bit crazy."

Chian continued staring before laughing heartily. "Well you've got guts, I'll give you that. Whether that stays true depends on what happens when that thing hatches."

Jude nodded in understanding. "Don't worry. Where I'm from there's a city of people who can tame wild monsters. And Milla knew someone that had a Wyvern so she should know some tricks from the idiot."

Milla remained silent before coughing to the side. "R – Right…"

Seeing this, Blake flatly remarked, "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Milla decided to shift the focus a little. "Faunus are part animal, aren't they? Wouldn't one of them be able to influence it?"

Jude flinched as he looked at Blake, who was visibly irritated as she clenched her fists. "Um, Milla, I don't think it works like that."

Milla tilted her head in thought. "Really?"

"Yeah, I don't think Faunus are really 'part' anything. They're just what they are, Faunus. They just happen to share traits with animals. Like humans do with monkeys."

The blonde put a hand on her chin in thought. "Ah, I see. Hm… I'll have to find more accurate books then."

Blake sighed before turning to the door.

"You okay?" Compa asked as she walked away.

"Yeah… just gonna head out for a bit."

Jude frowned as she left and followed after her.

* * *

"Blake?" he called out as he walked up to her standing on Passé's roof.

"Yeah?" she returned, not turning to him.

Jude frowned and put a hand on her shoulder. "Try not to let what Milla said get to you. She didn't mean anything by it, she just doesn't understand the world very much."

Blake sighed heavily before turning to him. "It's… it's not her, really."

Jude raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"It's… that man…" she spat out. "Ganache."

"Don't worry, I plan to deal with him."

She shook her head in denial. "That's not what I mean. He's a Schnee."

"A what?"

"The Schnee family owns and operates the Schnee Dust Company, the world's largest miner and distributor of Dust and Dust-based equipment."

"And I'm guessing he's a member of the family?"

"I don't know his exact relation to them, but yes."

"Do you dislike them?"

"No," she answered plainly.

"Oh, ok –" Jude began before Blake interrupted him.

"I hate them."

"… Ah… Mind if I ask why?"

She shook her head before turning back to him. "The Schnee Dust Company has repeatedly used Faunus as slave labor, treated us as tools, or worse, as monsters. I can't recall the number of times they've mistreated my kind."

Jude frowned deeply as he listened.

"When the war between humans and Faunus finally ended, and we were given the same rights as humans, the Schnee Dust Company may have stopped using us as slaves, but they refused to hire any Faunus, at least publicly, wouldn't stop spreading propaganda about us, and made it abundantly clear they didn't want us around."

His frown deepened as she continued.

"Even when they did hire Faunus, they put us in horrible working conditions, refused to pay them as much as humans, and often used them as scapegoats for their screw-ups. That is, at least, until the previous CEO died."

"Huh?" Jude hummed, his frown disappearing in curiosity.

"Jacques Schnee. No one knows exactly what happened, but he wound up dead one day. After which his wife, Willow, took over."

He blinked in thought as he continued to listen.

"I don't know if I'd call them a fair employer yet, but they're definitely better than they used to be. I'm guessing Ganache started his own company because he disliked how Willow was treating us better than garbage."

"More than likely…" Jude folded his arms in thought. "Maybe he thinks he can take over SDC with Avenir. Or wants to use it to target Willow and take the company for himself."

Blake just shrugged. "Either way, he obviously still carries Jacques' disdain for anything that isn't human."

"Yeah. Guys like him need to be dealt with."

Blake frowned incredulously. "You make it sound so easy…"

Jude just shrugged. "Poison works on all men the same way."

"That may be true, but getting it to him is the hard part."

Jude did not have a response for that.

"Yeah. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going tuna shopping."

"Right…"

* * *

Chian sighed as she sat with the others.

"Something wrong?" Presa questioned.

"I'm just a bit frustrated, since we've got to take down Avenir, fast. If we don't, no one will be able to live in Vacuo anymore. Most of my friends have already moved to Atlas due to the pollution."

"I see," Jude noted incredulously as he walked in.

"So, what'd you – ?" Neptune began to tease, Jude cutting her off.

"It wasn't anything dirty," he snapped, the girl pouting. Turning his attention back to Chian, he continued, "We will do all we can, because something tells me Ganache won't stop with just Vacuo. A guy like that probable has his sights set on the whole world."

"You can say that again," Chian huffed.

Presa raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Hold on, you said they moved to Atlas, why?"

Noire narrowed her eyes with arms folded. "Atlas? Does this mean White Heart's involved?"

Chian just shrugged. "I'm not sure. All I know is that they've been going to Atlas because right now flights there are cheaper than anywhere else in the world."

IF narrowed her eyes. "And I think I know why."

Noire hissed angrily. "That bitch…"

Presa furrowed her brow and folded her arms. "That sounds awfully suspicious…"

IF pulled out one of her Scrolls as she commented, "Avenir owns the airline and naval travel that runs here in Vacuo."

Jude narrowed his eyes in. "Avenir probable has some connection to the CPU in Atlas then."

"Huh?" Chian remarked, confused.

Noire explained, "She must be using him to get people to worship her instead of m – Black Heart"

"That's pretty dirty…" Nora grumbled.

"I'll say," IF noted as she moved through her Scroll.

IF made a call and waited until the person on the other end answered. "Hey, you there?" Waiting for a response, she continued, "Yeah, I've got someone I want you to do some digging on. No, I don't have any ice cream coupons, stop asking."

The others looked at her in mild confusion as she spoke with the other person.

"Ganache Schnee, the founder and CEO of Avenir Industries." After a moment she nodded. "Yep, thanks." She sighed as she hung up. "Well that's done."

The others looked at her slightly puzzled.

"Who you call there Iffy?" Neptune wondered.

"A friend of mine in the Guild. She'll do some digging to find out what we can about Ganache," IF elucidated.

"Yeah…" Nora added with a weak laugh.

"What's wrong?" Compa asked.

"N – Nothin'," Nora answered with a smile before frowning slightly at IF. ' _They aren't with the Guild and we both know it, Iffy._ '

"You sure she can dig up info on Ganache?" Chian asked, unconvinced.

IF nodded in return. "Yeah. Trust me, she's very good at her job."

"I see," Milla remarked in acknowledgement.

Jude sighed heavily. "Hope Ganache doesn't turn out to be like another Gilland."

"That bad, huh?"

Compa tilted her head, mildly confused. "Who's Gilland?"

Jude narrowed his eyes with derision. "He was a man that instigated a war back in our home between the countries Auj Oule and Rashugal in an attempt to break through something called the Schism."

"Whoa, he sounds bad…"

* * *

Outside Passé, Ganache stood near the door and huffed lightly. "Interesting. Guess I'll need to get rid of them sooner than I thought."

* * *

Inside the collapsed cave, several Avenir workers were moving rubble and debris when one noticed a small ring of eggs.

"Hey, what should we do with these eggs?" he asked.

Another just shrugged as he tossed a large rock. "Just smash 'em. No one will care."

The first man looked at them for a second before raising his hammer and swinging it down to smash one, at which point the cave began rumbling violently.

"… Uh, what was that?"

"No idea…"

The first man raised his hammer to crush another egg before the pile of boulders nearby burst away, a maw emerging from within.

Outside the cave, several more workers went silent as they heard screams inside the cave before a creature charge out at them.

* * *

Jude nodded in reply to Compa. "Yeah. It was in order to get back to his own world and use our own and our people as a power source."

"Disgusting," Noire grunted with contempt.

"You have no idea. That man only cared about his own selfish ambitions and sought to exploit our world to become the ruler of his own."

Chian sighed heavily. "I'm not sure what Ganache is planning, but I bet it's the same."

Jude nodded. "Yeah. No normal human would be so focused on destroying his own world like this."

* * *

Jude sat in his room, reading a book, when he noticed Neptune nearby looking at his gauntlets, sitting on a table. "Huh? Neptune? What are you doing in here?"

"Hm?" Neptune hummed as she turned to him.

Jude sighed as he sat up. "Shouldn't you be in the girls' room?"

"And leave ya all on your lonesome? No way Judie."

Jude chuckled with a smile as he stood. "Thanks, Neptune."

Neptune grinned energetically. "Your welcome Judie! That, and it's also too boring. Anyway, so where's the gun?"

"Huh?"

"Where the gun is for these things," she commented, looking over the gauntlets thoroughly.

"There… isn't one. What you see is what you get."

"… Really? That's weird…"

"What would be weird is if the gauntlets _had_ guns."

* * *

Elsewhere, two young women walked down a road when the taller, blonde woman suddenly sneezed.

"Whoa, you okay, Sis?" the shorter, black-haired girl asked.

"Yeah," she sniffled, "just felt like someone called me weird…"

* * *

Returning her gaze to his gauntlets, Neptune questioned, "So, where'd ya get these old things?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean my gauntlets? They are called Folzex the Grudge Bearer. I got them after killing a creature called Folzam. One of the six Devil's Beasts."

Neptune's eyes swirled with confusion. "Fartmouth the Tongue Breather from Foreskin?"

Jude sighed heavily, thought about correcting her, and then decided it was pointless. "No. Folzex the Grudge Bearer. Just think of them as my greatest armament."

"Ooh, like an Ultima?"

"I… guess?" Jude answered with bewilderment before adding, "The more enemies I kill with, them the stronger they become."

"Oooohh…! Awesome!"

The conversation was interrupted when the duo heard a knock at his door. "It's open," he called out, the door opening to reveal Noire standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Ju –" Noire noted as she stepped in, stopping when she noticed Neptune, "oh, you're busy. I'll, uh, come back later."

Jude shook his head. "No, it's okay, Noire. Come in."

Neptune nodded as she stood. "Yeah, I was just leavin'. Nighty night, Judie!" She then walked out of the room, skipping happily.

Jude chuckled lightly before redirecting his attention to the egg next to him as he addressed Noire. "What's up, Noire?"

Noire flinched and then fidgeted lightly. "Um… Well, it's a little complicated but… well… um…" she trailed off as she looked around uncomfortably, her face tinting red before she sighed with exasperation.

Jude just looked at her quietly.

After a moment of thought, she continued, "Look, I'll make it simple. I need to win back my people's faith. If I don't, my Shares will run out. You can guess what'll happen if that occurs."

Jude frowned bitterly. "I know. You'll die." He then smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry though. I have a few ideas on how we can get you to reclaim their faith. I won't let you die if I can help it. Actually, one of my ideas we can try right now if you want."

"R – Really?" she asked with excitement.

"Yeah, it's called a Tether."

She blinked in confusion as she thought about it. "Like a rope?"

Jude just laughed weakly. "Not exactly. It's a state where we share mana, me giving my mana to you."

Noire stiffened somewhat as her face turned red. "O – Oh…"

"Is something wrong?"

"N – No…" she stuttered.

"Right…"

"L – Let's focus on other avenues first."

"Um… okay?"

Shaking her head of the distraction, she replied, "W – Well the first thing we need to do is handle the Basilicom."

Jude nodded in understanding. "Right, I suggest finding out who, if anyone, is loyal to you in there."

Noire sighed with frustration. "Right… I only know of one, the head priest. The rest have been bought out by Avenir."

"I see…" Jude muttered with a sense of defeat.

"Yeah. They're the most prominent problem because they're the ones who preach to the masses about me."

"Hm… maybe the solution could be easy."

"Huh? How?"

"Have the head priest leave and gas the place."

Noire just stared blankly at him.

"What?"

"Nothing…" she groaned.

"Okay?"

"I'd really rather keep the Basilicom itself, and just get rid of those jerks."

Jude furrowed his brow in thought. "Then we remove them. After all, you're the Goddess right? You have the final say of who works there Noire."

Noire nodded before groaning. "Usually, yes. I'm the one who says what's going to happen, but it's the head priest who carries out the orders, and the others have effectively stolen his power from him."

Jude frowned and then suggested, "… Then we gather them in one spot and kick them out."

Noire shook her head in denial. "We can't be that obvious about it. Not until Avenir is dealt with."

Jude frowned in desperation. "… Release a Grimm in the place?"

Noire stared with a deadpan frown.

"… Just coming up with ideas…"

She just kept staring silently, disapprovingly.

Jude stiffened and slackened in his spot. "… Sorry…"

Noire shook her head in refutation and then smiled appreciatively. "No, it's a good idea, the other one at least, but Avenir would cause more problems. The main issue here is that Avenir is funneling money to the Basilicom to keep the priests fat and happy, and in return the Basilicom is letting Avenir do whatever they damn well please and quashing competition. That's about the gist of what Chian explained."

Jude sighed and folded his arms. "Then I guess we can only wait for Avenir to slip up in a big way."

"Right…" Noire nodded before filling the air with silence as her thoughts stirred. "… Hey, Jude. Can I ask you a question?"

Jude raised an eyebrow in slight curiosity. "You just did, but sure, what is it?"

"What do you think of Vacuo? If you had to choose between the land or power, what would you do?"

Jude raised an eyebrow, not exactly understanding her query, and decided on the best answer in the situation. "That is simple. I'd choose what's best for all."

"Huh?" Noire grunted in bewilderment.

"I'd do whatever is best for the people standing right in front of me. And even if I did fail to obtain power, I'd be happy seeing the faces of the people I helped smiling. Because to me…" Jude trailed off as a slightly pained smile formed on his face, "seeing them smile and be truly happy lets me know that I made the right choice."

"I see…"

"And I'd say you have someone like that too."

She blinked curiously as he spoke.

"That Uni person you mentioned when we first met."

Noire instantly went stiff, quiet.

Jude noticed this with concern. "… Noire?"

"You… heard that…?"

"Yeah. She must be important if you worked to make Vacuo peaceful enough for her to come here."

Noire furrowed her brow as she stammered out, "I… that's… oh forget it, there's no point lying. Uni is… she's my little sister."

"I see. She must mean the world to you."

The twin-tailed girl nodded with an unintentional smile. "She does… she's pretty much the whole reason I want to win the Console Wars. She looks at me like I'm perfect, and I want to live up to that."

"I'm sure she'd rather have you safe than fighting a war and risking your life," he replied before a frown formed on his face.

"Jude…? What's wrong?"

"Just wondering if the others have siblings too…"

Noire raised an eyebrow in consideration. "I… have no idea."

"It'd be easiest to ask Neptune, but she doesn't even remember that she's a Goddess, let alone whether she has a sister or not. Which is sad if she does."

Noire frowned deeply as she thought over his words.

"I mean, imagine if you forgot who Uni was and then met her again," he remarked, causing Noire to pale in horror. "Noire?" he asked, noticing that reaction.

"Th – That sounds horrible…"

"Ah. Yeah, but here's something else to consider."

She raised a curious eyebrow as she listened.

"Your goal of becoming the 'True Goddess'. If they too had little sisters, you'd have to kill them too."

Noire winced as he spoke. "… I…"

"And then there's Uni as well. If the path to becoming the True Goddess requires the death of the others it probably means you'll have to kill her too."

Her skin went white as a sheet.

"Noire?" Jude asked in confusion before she slumped to floor suddenly. "Noire!"

"I… never considered that…" she muttered in horror.

Jude widened his eyes before frowning as he just put a hand on her shoulder.

"I didn't think that would happen…"

"You didn't think it through then."

The two sat in silence for an extended period before Noire lowered her head as tears began to fall. "I'm a bad sister…"

"No, you're not," he argued bluntly.

"But I am!"

"Then why make Vacuo a safe place for her to live in?"

She frowned in frustration. "Because I wanted to protect her…"

"And if you had the choice, I bet you'd rather die and let her become this 'True Goddess', right?"

She remained silent but nodded slowly.

"Then you aren't a bad sister by any means."

She blinked in thought before looking up at him with a smile. "Thanks, Jude."

* * *

 **And fin! Thus ends the third chapter of Tales of Neptunia Re;Birth! Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter, be sure to let me know with a review if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or just have questions about anything, leave them in a review and I will do what I can to respond to them in the next chapter's reviewer response. That said, if your questions are spoiler-related, you will have better luck with a PM, as I avoid spoilers in the reviewer responses since not everyone likes to be spoiled. And if you are unsure about who certain characters are or where they come from, just let me know which ones and I will let you know, a character list would be far too time-consuming on my end and delay the chapter even further. If you did not enjoy the chapter, review if you must, but I would recommend you just do something you actually enjoy instead. Well, that about does it for my end, so until next time, bye-bye!**


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